The big picture: Given the pandemic and the impact it has had on society thus far, it’s safe to assume that co-watching is here to stay. It’s probably only a matter of time before some of the other, even larger, streaming platforms roll out co-viewing support. Eventually, the phenomenon will likely bleed over into other mediums as well.
Hulu was at the forefront of the co-viewing movement earlier this year when the pandemic started to ramp up.
Hulu’s variant, dubbed Watch Party, allows multiple people to view a show simultaneously and participate in a group chat. Oddly enough, when it launched, the feature was limited to those that subscribed to Hulu’s $12 per month no-ads plan and those with a live TV subscription.
In a recent press release, Hulu announced that Watch Party is now available to all subscribers, regardless of subscription tier. To get started, simply click the Watch Party icon on a show’s Details page and share the supplied link with up to seven other Hulu subscribers.
Hulu isn’t the only one experimenting with co-watching. Amazon earlier this year launched its own co-watching service for Prime Video, which is also called Watch Party. Disney also jumped on the bandwagon a few months back with GroupWatch for Disney+.
Masthead credit Tero Vesalainen
https://www.techspot.com/news/87840-hulu-rolls-out-watch-party-support-all-subscribers.html
