After announcing 60 percent revenue growth in 2011, web streaming service Hulu is taking its expansion to the next level in 2012 with a push into original programming. Battleground, the site's first ever original scripted series, will launch Feb. 14. The mockumentary series, described as "The Office meets (a low budget) The West Wing," follows the lives of a Wisconsin Senate candidate and his young staff. (Watch a trailer below.) Hulu's move echoes the strategy of rival streaming site Netflix, which is also introducing its first original series, Lilyhammer, in early 2012. With Hulu on the rise and Netflix's popularity sinking, should Netflix be worried?
Yep. In a tight race, Hulu has the advantage: Producing scripted shows is risky, says Yinka Adegoke at Reuters, as they are more expensive than the documentary series Hulu already produces. But Hulu has an advantage over Netflix and other rivals, because it's offering its original shows on its free web service "rather than just to its paying Hulu Plus subscribers" (Netflix customers must pay to subscribe as well). Hulu's well on its away "to becoming a full-fledged alternative to cable television."
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