Hulu’s Kelly Campbell Promoted to President
Hulu has a new president in Kelly Campbell, the Disney-owned streaming service’s former chief marketing officer.
Campbell’s promotion was announced several weeks after former CEO Randy Freer stepped down as part of Hulu’s ongoing corporate restructuring. Campbell will manage Hulu’s on-demand and livestreaming businesses and is expected to work closely with Disney’s other television executives. She will report to Kevin Mayer, chairman of Disney’s Direct-to-Consumer & International division, who promoted Campbell to president.
“Kelly is an immensely talented leader who has been a driving force in defining Hulu’s brand vision and strategy,” Mayer said in a statement. “She has built a tremendous multi-talented team and developed strategic campaigns that helped double Hulu’s subscriber base. Our senior leadership team is excited to welcome her aboard and can’t wait to work together to further grow Hulu’s footprint in the U.S. and beyond.”
Campell oversaw subscriber growth and marketing, among other duties, as Hulu’s chief marketing officer. Campell worked for Google for 12 years prior to joining Hulu and began her career as an investment banking analyst at JPMorgan Chase.
“This is a time of tremendous growth and transformation for Hulu, and I am incredibly energized by the opportunity ahead as we enter into this next chapter,” Campbell said in a statement. “The Hulu team is among the brightest, most technologically and creatively audacious in the industry, and I know we are going to do great things as part of the pioneering and equally bold team Kevin has built at DTCI.”
Campell’s promotion was announced during an especially busy day for Disney: The company announced earlier today that longtime CEO Bob Iger would be succeeded by Bob Chapek, effective immediately. Chapek has worked for the company for 27 years and was most recently its chairman of Disney parks, experiences, and products.
Hulu has been undergoing a transition that extends beyond executive shake-ups since the streaming service was acquired by Disney last year. Disney, which also owns FX and ABC, enjoyed strong success with its Disney+ streaming service that launched late last year, but that platform’s success raised questions about how Hulu would stand out in Disney’s television portfolio in the long-term.
Part of that strategy is FX on Hulu, a new initiative that launches on Hulu March 1. The initiative will bring most legacy FX programming to Hulu and shift several upcoming FX shows, including “Devs” and Mrs. America,” directly to streaming.
