The Washington Post is reporting that streaming service, Hulu has reversed its stance on political advertising that had previously been criticized by Democratic Party affiliated groups. The company released a statement on the topic today saying;
“Hulu will now accept candidate and issue advertisements covering a wide spectrum of policy positions, but reserves the right to request edits or alternative creative, in alignment with industry standards”.
It’s stance led to threats of a boycott by Democratic Party groups, though Hulu did not cite that threat as motivation for changing its position.
Washington Post reporter Michael Scherer had reported that The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Democratic Governors Association tried to purchase joint ads on abortion and guns with Hulu on July 15, along with identical placements on a Disney-affiliated ABC affiliate in Philadelphia and the company’s cable sports channel ESPN. The Hulu ads never ran, while the others did.
Hulu was within its rights to refuse to air ads it did not feel comfortable with because as a streaming company it is not bound by the Communications Act of 1934, a law that requires broadcast television networks to provide politicians equal access to the airwaves.
