Hulu Delivery Guide
StreamingMost lenient SVODHulu has the lowest technical bar of the major SVOD platforms — H.264 is accepted, SRT captions work, HDR is optional. But black bars and dual mono are instant rejections.
Black bars = hard rejection
✓ PipewrightHulu rejects any file with letterboxing or pillarboxing. 4:3 content in a 16:9 frame with black bars will fail. Content must be clean 16:9 or original AR without bars.
Dual mono instead of stereo
✓ PipewrightAudio channels L+R that are identical (dual mono) are detected and flagged. Must be true stereo with distinct L and R channels, properly labeled in the container.
Separate SDH + subtitle files required
✓ PipewrightHulu requires SDH (Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing) and regular subtitle files delivered as separate assets. Combining them in one file causes rejection.
SRT must be UTF-8 encoded
✓ PipewrightHulu accepts SRT but requires UTF-8 encoding. Windows-default ANSI encoding with special characters (em dashes, smart quotes, accented characters) fails silently.
CALM Act loudness compliance for broadcast simulcast
✓ PipewrightHulu is partially owned by Disney/ABC. Content intended for broadcast simulcast must comply with CALM Act: -24 LUFS integrated. Streaming-only content has more tolerance.