FX on Hulu Is Basically Your Streaming Dreams Come True

With its recent partnership with Hulu, FX is trying to do the impossible. At the Television Critics Association’s 2020 winter tour FX President and Chairman John Landgraf explained how the upcoming launch of FX on Hulu will give Hulu subscribers the best of both worlds: a massive library of content, and quality shows to watch.

FX on Hulu will launch as a branded hub of the streaming service starting on Monday, March 2. The subset of Hulu will be available to all Hulu subscribers and feature library FX content, like Fosse/Verdon and Sons of Anarchy; currently running shows, like Mayans MC, American Horror Story, Archer, and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia; and FX on Hulu exclusives. Those will include the upcoming Devs, Mrs. America, The Teacher (which is set to premiere sometime in the summer), and The Old Man (which will premiere in the fall). Altogether FX on Hulu will offer subscribers access to over 40 shows spanning nearly the entire FX brand.

“I have no doubt that both our brands together, the Hulu originals brand and the FX originals brand, will make Hulu a stronger platform than either of them could alone,” Landgraf said. “I’m excited for the opportunity for us. And I believe that FX can become stronger, remaining one of the most relevant and viable television brands in Disney and across the landscape of American TV.”

FX on Hulu’s launch will come in two phases, both of which will be packed with new premieres. Phase 1 will start on Monday, March 2, which is when the hub will launch and the first two episodes of Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard’s comedy Breeders will air on FX. Those episodes will then be added to Hulu the following day with new episodes streaming each week.

Breeders will be followed by the launch of Dave on FXX on Wednesday, March 4 as well as Better Things and Cake on Thursday March 5. That Thursday will also see FX on Hulu’s first streaming exclusive series, Alex Garland’s Devs. Finally, all four episodes of the docu-series The Most Dangerous Animal of All will premiere on FX Friday, March 6 before being made available to stream that Saturday.

Phase 2 will pick up on Wednesday, April 15 with FX on Hulu’s second exclusive, the Cate Blanchett and Uzo Aduba-starring Mrs. America. That day is also when Season 2 of What We Do in the Shadows will premiere on FX.

After those premieres, things will really start to pick up. Season 4 of the beloved and critically-acclaimed crime drama Fargo premieres on FX Sunday, April 19. That will be followed by the premiere of FXX’s Archer Season 11 on Wednesday, May 6. All FX on Hulu exclusives will be made available on Hulu on their premiere date. For every FX series that premieres on the network this spring, new episodes of FX originals will be made available on Hulu the day after their premiere.

All of that clustering is intentional. “One of the reasons why we clustered a lot of shows for the FX on Hulu launch in a short period of time is so that we could bring a sort of tonnage of quality and a tonnage of messaging to the market for a period of time that would sustain for a little while,” Landgraf explained.

“What I see when I look at consumption patterns of binged shows is that it’s two weeks. It could be a giant two weeks or a small two weeks, but two weeks. And two weeks is a cup of coffee, it doesn’t create a memorable attachment,” Landgraf said. “Part of what this new system that Disney is setting up and doing really well is going to find the right way of servicing the needs of a moment and the volume necessary to make streaming services work and still remain — in this internet of streaming era —  resolutely focused on the quality of TV experiences that creates attachments that last. That’s what we’re trying to do.”

FX has experimented with airing its newer content on Hulu before, most recently with the releases of A Christmas Carol and Legion. According to Landgraf, adding new episodes to Hulu didn’t hurt the viewership numbers of FX launches. Instead it increased the audiences for both shows across platforms.

“What the FX on Hulu does is it lets us aggregate half our linear channels and that 85 million home system with a new 30 million-ish homes and growing,” Landgraf said. “I think it’s going to make the FX brand more valuable because I think it’s going to penetrate deeper into American culture.”