Cable TV won’t disappear overnight, but it’s clear the future of television consumption is on streaming. Landgraf recognizes that in order for the company to thrive in the next age of TV, it needs to reach new viewers.

“We hit a ceiling because basic cable can’t go beyond its own ceiling,” Landgraf said. “Even though we’re in 85 million homes, it’s not growing in terms of usage and expansion.”

So far, the early returns on FX’s branded Hulu content hub are promising. Viewers of the FX series A Christmas Carol were 17 years younger on Hulu than on FX, Variety reported. FX content has always been tied to the advertising market, but now Hulu provides the company an avenue to reach ad-free viewers while maintaining its brand—and without having to license content to a streaming service like Netflix.

The assimilation of FX into Hulu is a strategy other streaming platforms and cable networks could employ. WarnerMedia could debut new TNT series directly on its fledgling streaming service, HBO Max (WarnerMedia owns TNT). NBCUniversal, which owns the USA Network, might want some of the channel’s new shows to premiere on its upcoming streaming service, Peacock, instead. Most major cable TV networks have some corporate connection to either an existing streaming platform, or an upcoming one.

This would be somewhat ironic: Streaming, the very thing that is speeding up cable’s demise, may also be what saves networks in the long run. Many cable networks are actually scaling back programming (some have folded operations altogether), finding it difficult to compete with the deep-pocketed streaming companies. But by joining forces with the streamers, cable channels could receive the injection of cash they need to produce more content while accessing audiences that have eluded—or deserted—them.

“We’re unleashing an inherent potential that lies within the content and the brand that’s been restrained to some extent by the distribution method,” Landgraf told Vulture in March. “We need Hulu very, very much.”

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