Business Corpus: Hulu Is Catching Up To Netflix — And Now Offers Something Netflix Won'tHulu said it has 20 million subscribers, still less than half of Netflix's U.S. users. The streaming site announced an exclusive content deal with Dreamworks Animation. The post Hulu Is Catching Up To Netflix — And Now Offers Something Netflix Won't appeared first on Investor's Business Daily.

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Hulu now boasts 20 million subscribers, still less than half of what Netflix (NFLX) claims stateside, but a formidable figure as the streaming platform stakes out its own turf in the entertainment arena and tries to build revenue streams in ways that its ad-less rival cannot.

The online pay-TV service — jointly owned by Disney (DIS), Comcast (CMCSA)'s NBCUniversal, Time Warner (TWX) and 21st Century Fox (FOXA) (for now, until Disney's acquisition of its entertainment assets is complete) — also inked a multiyear deal with DreamWorks Animation, stealing away the kids content creator from Netflix.

Netflix said in December that it would release half a dozen original DreamWorks Animation Television series on the service in 2018.

But Hulu's announcement means that it, too, will soon have DreamWorks content, and exclusive content at that. The platform and studio are teaming up to develop original kids and family series based on current DreamWorks franchises and movies, to be released in 2020. Starting next year, Hulu will be the only place where American viewers can watch DreamWorks movies such as "How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World" and "Trolls 2" online.

It's not clear what the impact will be on Netflix's DreamWorks series.

Hulu also renewed its critically acclaimed "The Handmaid's Tale" for a third season. The dystopian series, which became the first streaming show to win the Emmy for best drama, last week began its second season. Hulu claimed the season-two premiere doubled viewership vs. the first season.

While Netflix has shied away from featuring ads, Hulu said Tuesday that it will debut "ad-supported downloadable content," in which advertisers can insert their commercials into shows and movies that users have downloaded on their devices. The company is also going to start offering ad space in its live-TV subscription service.

Netflix shares rose 6 cents to 313.36 in the stock market today, finding support above their 50-day line. Disney stock fell 0.4%.

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The post Hulu Is Catching Up To Netflix — And Now Offers Something Netflix Won't appeared first on Investor's Business Daily.