Hulu Watch Party: Officially Launched Co-Viewing Feature

Hulu has announced that its Watch Party feature is now accessible to all of its on-demand subscribers. This co-viewing functionality was initially introduced in 2020, early in the pandemic, enabling Hulu users to enjoy shows simultaneously with others, even when geographically separated. The feature also includes a chat interface and the ability to share reactions to the content as it plays.

The Watch Party feature was first rolled out to Hulu subscribers who had chosen the “No Ads” plan. Later, it underwent testing with subscribers on ad-supported plans, though on a limited basis. To mark the premiere of the second season of the Hulu Original series “Pen15,” the company extended the Watch Party experience to its ad-supported customers for a period of ten days, beginning on September 18.

During November, Hulu expanded its testing of Watch Party to include live streams of election news – representing the first time the co-viewing feature was offered with live content.

Hulu now confirms that Watch Party has moved beyond the testing stage and is officially available to all on-demand subscribers, regardless of whether they have a commercial-free or ad-supported plan.

Currently, Watch Party is compatible with a wide range of titles – thousands in total – available within Hulu’s content library. This encompasses Hulu’s original series, as well as licensed programs and broadcast shows such as “The Golden Girls,” “This Is Us,” “Family Guy,” and “The Bachelorette,” all of which proved popular during the testing phase.

To begin using Watch Party, users should look for the new Watch Party icon on the detail page of a title on Hulu.com. This icon provides a shareable link that can be sent to up to seven other Hulu subscribers who are 18 years of age or older. The feature operates directly on the Hulu website and does not require any browser extensions.

While the program is playing, participants can engage in conversation and share reactions using emoji within the group chat window. Users also have the option to pause the viewing experience if needed, though this pause will only affect their individual stream. They can rejoin the group at any time, either catching up to the current point or using the “Click to Catch Up” button in the chat window to synchronize their viewing.

Shared viewing experiences have become increasingly popular as individuals seek ways to maintain connections with friends and family when in-person gatherings are not possible. Beyond Hulu, other platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Twitch, HBO (through Scener), Plex (with Watch Together), Instagram, and Facebook have also introduced similar co-viewing features. Netflix users currently rely on external tools to achieve this functionality.