Hulu appoints former Xbox exec as head of experience

Hulu has appointed former Sonos and Xbox executive Ben Smith as its new senior vice president, head of experience.

With the hire, the US video streaming service said it is bringing together four teams to make up its experience organisation – product, user experience, digital video production and customer support.

Smith will lead the new experience team, which will head up Hulu’s “quest to redefine TV by changing the way our viewers enjoy television”, according to the company.

Working in partnership with teams across Hulu, the experience team will be tasked with to identifying and implementing solutions that meet viewers’ needs – “from products to technologies to advertising, content and customer support.”

“Ever since we rolled out our mission, vision, values and strategic priorities just over a year ago, we knew we needed to bring on a leader laser-focused on guiding our efforts to start with the viewer. Today I am pleased to welcome this leader, Ben Smith,” said Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins announcing the appointment.

Smith joins from wireless speaker and home audio firm Sonos, where he was head of product management. Prior to that he was a partner at Microsoft, leading product design for Xbox and the TV and video experience for the Xbox One games console.