Apple Offers Free Streaming of Hulu’s ‘Castle Rock’ Premiere on TV App

By Todd Spangler

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – The premiere episode of “Castle Rock,” the Stephen King-inspired original series from J.J. Abrams, will be available for free exclusively to U.S. users on the Apple TV App — with no Hulu subscription required.

The “” series premiere will be available on the TV App exclusively for two weeks, starting Wednesday (July 25). It’s the first time any network or streaming service is debuting an episode on the Apple TV App in front of any paywalls.

is using a “sampling” strategy in the exclusive deal with Apple, in the hopes that the freebie first episode will spur people to sign up for Hulu to watch the rest of the 10-episode anthology series.

In the series’ premiere episode, death row attorney Henry Deaver (André Holland) confronts his dark past when an anonymous call lures him back to his hometown of Castle Rock, Maine. In addition to Holland, “Castle Rock” stars Melanie Lynskey, Sissy Spacek, Bill Skarsgård, Jane Levy and Scott Glenn.

The Apple TV App, available on iPhone, iPad and Apple TV set-top, lets users browse and access content from more than 60 TV networks and video services (including Hulu). It also provides access to iTunes purchases and a variety of free content.