How to Get Your PSA on Hulu

If you’re like us, you’re watching more and more television programming on the Internet via sites like Hulu, rather than traditional networks. And you’ve probably noticed that many of the advertisements — particularly for older programs — are from nonprofit organizations.

Being the savvy nonprofit marketer you are, you’ve probably asked yourself, “How do I get my Public Service Advertisement (PSA) up there?”

Well, we asked ourselves the same thing. The answers haven’t been easy to find.

Until now.

Here it is, your complete guide to getting your free PSA posted on Hulu.

Step 1: Choose the Right Ad

Keep it Light
Hulu is providing entertainment. If you want your ad to be chosen, it can’t be overly depressing.

Hulu’s Brooke Citron says, “Our users come to Hulu to be entertained, and comedy is our biggest draw. Knowing that our users get upset when they see a very depressing PSA while watching shows such as Modern Family makes it all the less likely for us to traffic in heavier PSA. Understandably, if it is a weighty subject matter, please send us the “lightest” version that you have for your best chance of approval.”

Make it Evergreen
To run on Hulu, an ad must be appropriate to run the entire year. If you’re advertising a time-limited campaign or year-end appeal; your ad won’t run. Leave the push for upcoming events to other formats.

Keep it Family-Friendly
Hulu does not monitor, target or track PSAs the way it might for another type of advertiser. Make sure your content can run across the entire site on all channels, including kids/family programming. That means you need to leave out the controversial or shocking images.

Check the Controversy at the Door
“We do not support the efforts of gun organizations, religion, or political organizations,” says Citron. “Hulu cannot appear to take favor of any one controversial organization; we must remain neutral and non-partisan.” So if you want your ad to run, it can’t be controversial.

Make it Work for a Broad Audience
Hulu reaches a national and even global audience, so make sure your PSA is as meaningful to someone in Billings, Montana as it is to someone in your home town.

Quality Matters
The higher the production quality, the better chance your PSA has of making it through their process. So if your intern just created a slide show, save it for a smaller venue. The message you’re sending to the world needs to be crafted by professionals.

Step 2: Save it in the Right Format

Hulu Standard Definition Mezzanine File Format

• Size     540 x 404 or higher (4:3 aspect ratio), No black bars
• Size Option 2:      720 x 404 or higher (16:9 aspect ratio), No black bars
• Length:     :15 or :30 seconds
• Codec:     Any native Quicktime, AVID or Media 100 including MPEG-2, H.264No DivX, Sorenson, Cinepak or other lossy compression.
• Frame Rate:     29.97 – please preserve the native frame rate
• File Formats:     AVI, MOV, WMV or MP4
• Bitrate:     Greater than 2Mbps
• Color Depth:     32-bit
• Audio:    2 Channel PCM Audio, 16 bit preferred, or MPEG-1 44.1 KHz / 384 kbps accepted. Audio is required.
• Max File Size:     10GB
• Hosting:     Video ads hosted by Hulu
• Leaders/Slates:     Video must be submitted without leaders (slates) prior to the ad content. Please make content progressive.

Hulu High Definition Mezzanine File Format

• Size:     1440×1080 or higher (4:3 aspect ratio) *No black bars*
  1280×720 or higher (16:9 aspect ratio – 1920×1080 preferred) *No black bars*
• Length:     :15 or :30 seconds
• Codec:     MPEG-2 Program Stream
• Frame Rate:     29.97 – please preserve the native frame rate
• Bitrate:     Constant Bitrate (CBR)_ 15-30 Mbps, Main Profile @ Main Level (MP@ML), 4:2:0 Color Space
• Audio:     2 Channel PCM Audio, 16 bit preferred, or MPEG-1 44.1 KHz / 384 kbps accepted. Audio is required.
• Max File Size:     10GB
• Hosting:     Video ads hosted by Hulu
• Leaders/Slates:     Video must be submitted without leaders (slates) prior to the ad content. Please make content progressive.

Other Assets

Hulu asks that you provide:

• Your logo in vector format (either AI or EPS) to create the slate which will be displayed prior to the video commercial, and simultaneously with the voice-over
• The phonetic pronunciation of your organization to be synced with the voice-over, “Hulu is proud to support the efforts of  ____________”
• Your 300 x 60 companion banner in JEPG (which will be displayed simultaneously with the video commercial in the top right hand corner)
• Your 300 x 250 end card in JPEG which will show up at the end of the video commercial and allow users to click through to your site
• The click-to URL for your organization

Step 3: Contact Hulu

Brooke Citron and Lauren Kohli oversee PSA placement for Hulu. Brooke should be contacted directly via email (advertisers (at) hulu.com) if you have a PSA you want to place.

Remember:

• Be nice. You’re asking for something for free.
• Be brief. Busy people appreciate brevity.
• Be clear. Assume the folks at Hulu haven’t heard of your organization or the problem you’re addressing. Quickly explain WHY your organization does its work. (That is much more important than HOW you do your work. But that’s a different blog post.)

Good Luck!

As far as we know, this is the only resource explaining how Hulu’s PSA program works. Please share your experiences here, and let us know if there’s anything else you’ve learned that can make this process even easier!

Related Post: The YouTube Nonprofit Program