Why Impeachment: American Crime Story Isn't Available On Hulu

After months of hype, "Impeachment: American Crime Story," the latest season of the FX anthology, is finally hitting our screens. The show is airing weekly on the cable channel, one episode at a time, using an illustrious cast to retell the drama of the Clinton impeachment scandal. 

For the cable cutters among us, watching weekly at 9:00 P.M. is basically a foreign concept, but at this point, at least one of the many streaming services should have us covered. Right? In this case, your mind likely jumps immediately to Hulu: most viewers are used to FX and FXX series appearing on the streamer just hours after premiering on cable. Sadly, while there are plenty of greats coming to Hulu this fall, "Impeachment: American Crime Story" isn't one of them.

Thanks to a 2016 licensing agreement brokered between Netflix and 20th Century Fox (before the Disney merger), Netflix has exclusive global SVOD streaming rights to the "American Crime Story" franchise. Variety reports that the deal started with the first season of the anthology, "The People v. O.J. Simpson," which is currently available on Netflix alongside season 2, "The Assassination of Gianni Versace." Following this trend, the third season won't be available on the streamer until all eight episodes have aired on FX, at the end of October. Separate from this agreement but worth noting is Netflix's relationship with "American Crime Story" executive producer Ryan Murphy, who entered a huge multi-year deal with the service to produce new series and movies.

Between the absence of this popular FX series and the recent news about their prices rising, Hulu might be entering a little rough patch with subscribers. But if it's any consolation, there are actually a lucky few Hulu customers who will have access to new episodes of "Impeachment."

"Impeachment: American Crime Story" isn't available on the popular, baseline Hulu VOD tiers (ads or no ads). But customers with Hulu + Live TV have access to a variety of cable channels, including FX — meaning they can watch the series either on demand or live on Tuesday nights. Similarly, "Impeachment" is available live on the FX cable channel, or on a number of streaming-cable plans that include the channel. Think cable alternatives like Sling TV, Fubo TV, YouTube TV or AT&T TV Now. The series is also available to subscribers of FXNow who can login with their cable provider.

You'd think that with all these services, watching TV would get a little easier, but it actually seems more complicated than ever. It's shame that so many will have to wait for "Impeachment" to finally become available on Netflix — this latest season is a biggie. The miniseries is tackling a story that's become deeply ingrained in culture by retelling the circumstances of Bill Clinton's impeachment. The scandalous saga tracks his inappropriate relationship with then-intern Monica Lewinsky, and reexamines the way she and other women involved were treated by the news cycle.

The season has a sprawling cast of characters, with a crop of talented actors taking on household names. It's a lot to track, but worth a little studying to see the performances of Beanie Feldstein, Sarah Paulson, Annaleigh Ashford, Margo Martindale, Edie Falco, Billy Eichner, Clive Owen, Colin Hanks and more.

"Impeachment: American Crime Story" airs new episodes weekly on FX.