Expanding Outlander in America: What about Hulu?

It wasn’t all that long ago that Hulu first decided to pick up the first couple of seasons of the Starz series Power. That show consistently delivers tremendous ratings for the network, but in putting these episodes on the streaming service, the network is opening up that additional avenue. It’s more of a viewership, and in turn, it’s an opportunity for the studio to make further money out of licensing.

Who knows? Maybe some of those viewers will get hooked and opt to eventually check out the show on Starz itself. It doesn’t matter sometimes how you recruit new viewers; it just matters that you do, and then you hope that you can keep them.

Now, we pose the following question: Is this something that should be considered for Outlander, as well? We were first inspired to think about this with the Power acquisition, and we also started to wonder about additional outlets in the wake of the More4 pickup over in the UK. That move enables so many people who don’t see the show on Amazon to be able to (finally) see it. It could be a game-changer for Sony as they look to keep the show on the air for as long as possible.

With Hulu, there could be a similar effect. Remember, only a small percentage of TV viewers subscribe to Starz, and it’s still a network that is building up its original programming. There are a wide contingent of viewers that would enjoy the show, but just don’t have the means of discovering it. With Hulu, there could be more of a chance to do that. It has a wide subscriber base, and it wouldn’t have to face content limitations on the internet much like it would if networks were to air anywhere else on cable TV. There are absolutely certain episodes that we couldn’t quite imagine EVER working with editing — you know the ones we’re talking about.

The idea with Hulu

Put the first season online this year, and then put on season 2. Starz obviously shouldn’t want their most-recent episodes going over there, but given that the first two seasons of Power are online right now on the provider, this makes the most sense. It’s one thing to recommend Outlander to your friend; it’s another thing altogether for it to be in a place where you can actually have the means to start watching it.

Is it true that Outlander doesn’t technically need any more viewers? Sure. It’s got a big enough audience, through linear views, app totals, and DVR recordings to last for a long time. We just feel like a little bit of extra love via a streaming platform never hurt any show.

Some other Outlander news

Love the show? Then you know that we do as well! If you head over here, you can get some further news right now when it comes to everything from the More4 airings to a recent win at the Saturn Awards! Even though filming is over, we’re going to keep up our almost-daily coverage of the show the rest of the season. (Photo: Starz.)