Hulu Ups The Ante With Original Content Programming

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If you’re a fan of the original A-Team–or even the newer movie (which provided a shout-out to what I’m about to say)–you’re already familiar with the immortal phrase “I love it when a plan comes together”. And that bizarre introduction is the perfect segue to talk about Hulu, who has recently announced a new lineup of original, Hulu-only content coming our way in the near future.

We’d heard previously about shows like Lillyhammer and the long-awaited return of Arrested Development, but now Hulu’s got a pair of new shows looking to hit the site before summer kicks off. First off, there’s Battleground, which is a 30 minute political comedy that will kick off in February and offer up a full (if somewhat small) slate of 13 episodes. Meanwhile, Hulu’s first original, A Day In The Life (a travelogue directed by no less than Richard Linklater) is set to make a return starting this March.

Hulu says its original content costs roughly the same as what regular television’s original content does–between half a million and a million dollars per episode–and the venture looks to shell out fully $500 million over this year to acquire new content, most of which will be licensed from other networks.

And what this means–and why I went to A-Team quotes in the beginning–is two-fold. One, of course, means that Hulu’s not going anywhere any time soon. We’re likely going to see a whole lot of new stuff coming and hopefully the bulk of it will remain both free and advertiser-supported. But two, Hulu may well be onto something that both Microsoft and Apple should in turn consider. We’ve all seen their television plans get largely destroyed once the networks presented them with the bill, but if the streaming services start developing their own content, those plans may come back much stronger than previously realized.

But what do you guys think here? Might we soon be seeing original content coming out of places that previously hadn’t been involved in content development? Or will the streaming movement keep buying most of its content from established sources? No matter what you think, we always like hearing from you, so head on down to the comments section and tell us what you think!