If has your email address, you might have gotten a strange message on Thursday evening, warning you that if you want to watch “” this Sunday night, you can watch it “everywhere” — except. The message came with a link to the website, but the site is not a viewing guide to your options for the upcoming Season 8 premiere (which also happens to be the 100th episode). Instead, it’s a form asking Hulu customers to enter their information: “To ensure you don’t miss the new season of the biggest show on TV, let Hulu know you want The Walking Dead!” The campaign is most likely related to Hulu’s. That service includes major channels from almost every conglomerate, including Disney/ABC, NBCUniversal, CBS, 21st Century Fox, and Turner. But missing from that package: AMC Networks’ channels, which include AMC, Sundance TV, BBC America and WE TV.
(Major networks from Discovery and Viacom also aren’t available yet.) AMC is already available on most of the other over-the-top streaming services, including DirecTV Now and Sling. Read More: If this feels somewhat familiar, there’s a reason: AMC has often put “The Walking Dead” at the center of campaigns about the network’s availability, such as when it faced disputes. By creating this campaign, AMC is clearly looking to use “The Walking Dead,” which remains one of the most popular shows on TV, as a bargaining chip for Hulu TV distribution. This campaign is a bit confusing, however, as to most consumers “Hulu” means the original programming service, who are probably scratching their heads — “The Walking Dead” is an AMC show; why would the new season be available on Hulu? It’s not on Netflix, Amazon or HBO either. AMC and Hulu have played nice in the past.