Hulu Nabs ‘Lost’ Exclusive Subscription Streaming Rights From Netflix
All six seasons of “Lost,” the supernatural drama that aired on ABC, are now available on Hulu — after Netflix’s subscription-streaming rights to the show expired.
As of Jan. 4, all 121 episodes of “Lost” are available to Hulu subscribers. The series comes to Hulu as part of a deal with the Disney/ABC Television Group. Netflix had originally inked the deal with Disney/ABC for “Lost” backed in 2009.
“Lost” was created by Jeffrey Lieber, J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof. The series follows the survivors of Oceanic Air flight 815, flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, that crashes on a mysterious Pacific island. Over the course of its six-season run on ABC from 2004-10, “Lost” won multiple awards, including Emmy and Golden Globe awards for best drama series.
The cast of “Lost” includes series regulars Jorge Garcia, Josh Holloway, Yunjin Kim, Evangeline Lilly, Terry O’Quinn, Naveen Andrews, Matthew Fox and Daniel Dae Kim.
Disney is one of Hulu’s corporate parents, along with NBCUniversal, 21st Century Fox and Time Warner. Under Disney’s proposed $52.4 billion deal to acquire 20th Century Fox and other assets, Disney would obtain Fox’s 30% stake in Hulu and have majority control over the streaming company.
Other programming from Disney/ABC Television Group that Hulu has recently added after securing exclusive subscription VOD rights include ABC’s “Designated Survivor”; ABC’s original “TGIF” lineup from the late 1980s and ’90s including “Full House” and “Family Matters”; “The Golden Girls”; and “black-ish.”
Two years ago, a kerfuffle sprang up about the “Lost” series finale episode on Netflix: The version on Netflix was an edited version that was 18 minutes shorter than the full episode originally aired on ABC. After Lindelof noticed the truncation, Netflix restored the full 104-minute cut.
Hulu, in launching “Lost” on Thursday, also appears to be streaming the shortened version of the final episode (broken into two 43-minute parts). A Hulu rep didn’t immediately respond to a query about whether the full version will be made available.
Related stories
What's Coming to Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime in January 2018
Hulu's Future: What Disney-Fox Deal Means for TV-Streaming Venture
Golden Globes Nominations: Streaming Steals the Spotlight
Subscribe to Variety Newsletters and Email Alerts!
