Before it looks to keep its Emmy success rolling on Monday night, Hulu has another milestone to celebrate: hitting 1 million Live TV subscribers.
After launching its Live TV platform 16 months ago, the streaming service recently passed the mark, TheWrap has learned.
Hitting 1 million Live TV subscribers comes as the company battles with other services to grab a slice of the market. YouTube TV — the Google-owned video giant’s own $40-a-month live streaming option — had about 300,000 subscribers at the beginning of the year. AT&T’s DirecTV Now has 1.8 million subscribers and Sling TV paces the field with 2.5 million customers.
Hulu is nominated for 27 Emmys on Monday, led by “The Handmaid’s Tale” and its 20 nominations. Hulu’s trademark show scored a massive victory last year when it became the first show produced by a streaming service to take home the award for Outstanding Drama Series.
To keep the hits coming, though, Hulu is spending big. The service is set to lose $1.5 billion in 2018 — a 71 percent jump from last year. Its gains when it comes to its Live TV customers, coupled with adding to its base of 20 million customers paying at least $8 a month, might be enough to satiate its big name investors for the time being.
USA Today first reported this news.