• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, March 7, 2022

As expected based on reports last month, NBCUniversal has not renewed Hulu's rights to offer NBC shows such as  “The Voice,” “Saturday Night Live” and "American Auto,” the day after their initial broadcasting. 

NBCU parent Comcast, which is looking to boost Peacock’s subscriber base by pumping up its content, has publicly acknowledged its desire to eventually shift content that now debuts on Hulu to Peacock. 

Hulu is majority-owned by and controlled by Disney, but still 30%-owned by NBCU parent Comcast. Comcast’s ability to pull content from Hulu starting this year was part of the 2019 deal between Disney and Comcast that also allows either to force a sale of Hulu for a price of at least $9.2 billion by 2024. 

Libraries of some NBCU shows, such as “30 Rock” and “Parenthood,” as well as some films, will continue on Hulu at least for the present, because they are under a separate agreement not up for renewal at this time.

In January, NBCU reported that Peacock had 9 million paid accounts and 24.5 million U.S. monthly active accounts at the end of 2021, but just 9 million paid subscribers — and that the company will double its investment on Peacock content this year, to $3 billion, and to $5 billion in subsequent years. Hulu has 45.3 million subscribers, including those who pay for Hulu's live TV service bundle.

NBCU's move is just one example of recent content clawbacks as media companies end syndication agreements in favor of using such programming for their own streaming services and investing in original content. 

Last week, Disney announced that now that Netfix's rights to several Marvel "Defenders" shows have expired, the shows will be moved to Disney+, starting March 16.