• by Wayne Friedman , June 23, 2020

Catering to its mostly younger viewers with mobile phones in hand, Hulu is launching an effort where viewers can scan onscreen TV commercials that have barcodes with their phones to receive promotional offers from advertisers.

Walt Disney’s Hulu premium streaming video service announced the effort -- called GatewayGo -- during Hulu’s IAB’s NewFront virtual presentation on Monday. 

SmileDirectClub, The RealReal and Sweetgreen are among Hulu’s exclusive launch partners.

During the presentation, Hulu offered up research on what it calls “Generation Stream” -- young streaming TV viewers.

Hulu says streamers consist of three groups -- “streaming only”, “streaming most,” and “streaming also.” The largest of these are “streaming most” , where viewers watch TV shows mostly-- but not entirely -- via streaming platforms. It estimates these viewers represent  47% of all “generation stream”.

“Streaming Only”, those who exclusively stream with no linear TV viewing, are at a 37% share. “Streaming Also,” where streaming is just an “addition” to other types of TV content consumed, is at 16%.

Overall, Hulu says streamers tend to be younger, more affluent and more likely to be college educated.

Hulu’s research says over 80% of its subscribers recommend brands to friends, and nearly two-thirds of Hulu subscribers say they like advertising.