Hulu Acquires Exclusive Rights to Lifetime's Dreama Series UnREAL

By: Jan. 07, 2016
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Hulu has acquired the exclusive subscription video on-demand rights to Lifetime's critically acclaimed drama series from A+E Studios, UnREAL. All episodes of season one will become available to stream through Hulu's No Commercial and Limited Commercials plan beginning February 3rd and future seasons of the series will become available to stream on Hulu following their initial season run on Lifetime.

One of the standout drama series of 2015 and soon to premiere its second season, UNREAL has captivated audiences and media alike with inclusions in Entertainment Weekly's "Must List" and multiple "Best of" year-end lists including TV Guide, The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Variety, Hollywood Reporter and Buzzfeed. The first season of the series also received three Critics' Choice Awards nominations, including "Best Drama Series;" "Best Actress in a Drama," Shiri Appleby; and "Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series," Constance Zimmer.

Once again starring Shiri Appleby and Constance Zimmer as producers Rachel Goldberg and Quinn King, season two stirs up the controversy when Everlasting casts its first-ever African American suitor.

Set against the backdrop of a fictional dating show, UNREAL provides a wildly entertaining look at just how far producers could go behind-the-scenes to make drama on screen. The series is led by Rachel Goldberg (Shiri Appleby - Girls, Roswell), a young staffer whose sole job is to manipulate her relationships with, and amongst, the show's contestants to get the vital dramatic and OUTRAGEOUS footage that the program's dispassionate executive producer, Quinn King (Constance Zimmer - Entourage, House of Cards), demands. UNREAL also stars Craig Bierko (Damages) as Everlasting's eccentric creator, Chet; and Freddie Stroma (Game of Thrones) as the dating show's handsome and intelligent suitor, Adam Cromwell.

Produced by A+E Studios, UNREAL is executive produced by Co-Creators Marti Noxon and Sarah Gertrude Shapiro, along with Carol Barbee, Sally DeSipio, Robert M. Sertner and Stacy Rukeyser. UNREAL is the first scripted series fully produced by A+E Studios. Chute Ten Productions, Inc., A+E Studios' production partner, holds domestic SVOD distribution rights to UnREAL.

The new deal expands Hulu's relationship with the A+E Networks company. In a previous deal, Hulu and A+E Networks struck a licensing agreement that brought a list of hundreds of A+E Networks' library episodes to the streaming service. The non-exclusive deal has made full seasons of popular titles including Project Runway, PROJECT RUNWAY All Stars, Storage Wars, Intervention, Pawn Stars, American Pickers, Ax Men, BEYOND SCARED STRAIGHT and more available to stream on Hulu.

ABOUT Hulu Hulu is a premium streaming TV destination that offers hundreds of thousands of hours of the best of current season programming, premium original content, films and full seasons of hit series to subscribers with limited commercials for $7.99 per month or commercial free for $11.99 per month. Hulu is the only streaming subscription service that offers current season content from 5 of the 6 largest U.S. broadcast networks. Since its launch in 2008, Hulu has been at the forefront of entertainment and technology and continues to redefine TV by connecting viewers with the stories they love.

ABOUT A+E STUDIOS A+E Studios is the studio unit of the award-winning global media company A+E Networks, LLC. A+E Studios creates, produces and distributes high quality scripted programming across all networks and platforms in the A+E Networks portfolio, including A&E(R) Network, Lifetime(R), History(R), LMN(R), FYI(TM), H2(R) and A&E IndieFilms(R). A+E Studios' slate of programming consists of scripted series, event series and movies, including the upcoming event miniseries Roots for HISTORY, A&E and Lifetime, UNREAL for Lifetime and Sons of Liberty(TM) and HOUDINI for HISTORY.

ABOUT LIFETIME Lifetime is a premier female-focused entertainment destination dedicated to offering the highest quality original programming spanning scripted series, nonfiction series and movies. Lifetime Television(R), LMN(R), Lifetime Real Women(R) and Lifetime Digital(TM) are part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, LLC, a subsidiary of A+E Networks. A+E Networks is a joint venture of the Disney-ABC Television Group and Hearst Corporation.

Image courtesy of Lifetime



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