Hulu, the US online video service owned by NBC Universal, Fox and Walt Disney, has signed its first batch of content deals with international television producers, the first step towards a full global launch of the service.

The company was set up 18 months ago by the media companies as a viable alternative to YouTube for professionally produced content. But Hulu is still only available in the US although the group said on Wednesday it was in talks to launch the site in eight of the leading broadcast markets.