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Hulu sells its Japan operations to a local broadcaster, licenses brand name and tech

Hulu jumped into overseas expansion of subscription video streaming services around the same time as its competitors Netflix and Amazon, but now it's taking a step back. New CEO Mike Hopkins announced one of his first big moves in a blog post, revealing that Hulu Japan has been sold to Nippon TV, one of the top TV networks in the country. In Japan the Hulu Plus-style approach has been the only one offered, with a pay subscription opening up access to a mix of local and imported-from-the-US programming, including HBO. According to Hopkins, not a lot should change for subscribers. While Nippon TV will take over day-to-day operations and expand the content available with some of its own stuff, Hulu is licensing its brand and technology to the company.