Hulu to Start Charging for Content in 2010?
Aside from YouTube, Hulu has been the single biggest organization responsible for bringing TV into the digital age, by legally streaming all kinds of TV shows and movies over the internet absolutely free. The success has been astounding, and it has even allowed many people to cancel their cable subscriptions entirely (in the U.S., anyway). But not so fast, all you Hulu addicts out there… the free ride may soon be coming to an end!
Over the past year or so there has been a lot of pressure for them to turn Hulu into a profitable business, and right now the short commercials just aren’t cutting it. Recently, at the On Screen Media Summit in New York, News Corp. Deputy Chairman Chase Carey confirmed rumours about Hulu starting to charge for their content:
“It’s time to start getting paid for broadcast content online… I think a free model is a very difficult way to capture the value of our content. I think what we need to do is deliver that content to consumers in a way where they will appreciate the value. Hulu concurs with that, it needs to evolve to have a meaningful subscription model as part of its business.”
He also speculated that these changes would start taking effect in 2010. Now, at the moment it doesn’t sound likely that the entire service will become subscription only. They’ve built up such a huge user base that it would be foolish to alienate them all at one fell swoop. However, they would need to have some pretty amazing exclusive content if they want to attract subscribers that way. Would you pay for Hulu? Is this the direction that television should be heading, or is there a better alternative out there? All I know is that here in Canada we have no Netflix and no Hulu, so this makes absolutely no difference to us whatsoever!
Update: Hulu has now told Entertainment Weekly that this is all getting blown out of proportion, and that “any possible subscription or pay-per-view service has no set timeline and would only build upon what Hulu offers, not replace it”. (via /Film)
Comments (12)
haha @ Sean for last sentence. It must suck to report on this news that makes no difference to you.
Posted by Itchy-Finger on October 28th, 2009Well I like to think that one day we will have our own version of Hulu. Something will have to happen eventually.
Posted by Sean on October 28th, 2009I like the zillion TV model, 3 choices for both online and set-top boxes:
no pay: you get shows with commercials
partial pay: you get commercials for only things you want to see (zero loss advertising)
full pay: all shows, no adds
We should all support this idea, get it everywhere, move on already!
Posted by rus in chicago on October 28th, 2009I’m in the Uk and I wouldn’t begrudge a small monthly fee to get Hulu. It might even help get rid of some of the licensing problems of showing it in other countries. If people in those countries are paying, then what’s the problem?
Posted by JamieCakes on October 28th, 2009Hulu???? I will not pay for that. It is not worth paying for. Unless they grow there content. Still I will look for it free first.
Posted by BigHungry on October 28th, 2009When asked if I would pay for Hulu, I have a couple questions on the matter. The first being that will the individual networks still have their shows online at their own website? Sure it’s convenient to have a one-stop place to watch them all, but I’d rather have free than convenient. Secondly, will Hulu improve if we pay for it? If Hulu got more shows and more back seasons of current shows, I’d be much more inclined to pay. And lastly, what kind of pricing model will the site have? These all must be considered.
Posted by Nate on October 28th, 2009Hulu you need to pay for already exists, it’s called iTunes.
Posted by MJS on October 29th, 2009I’m annoyed with Hulu’s selection of shows, not all tv episodes of every season are available, and the ads get more annoying. I was trying to watch Exo Squad, but the episodes aren’t listed in order, I guess I could look up an episode guide on an external website. I can’t see paying for this type of slipshod service. I guess the pay service might have all episodes and in order.
CBS’ site and Sony’s crackle site have the same annoying quirks. Even Youtube is starting to make it harder to find what you want to view and their ads and popups are getting out of control.
Posted by Duke Togo on October 29th, 2009Nope, would not pay for it. It already pisses me off they won’t support playback through the ps3 browser. I would gladly watch shows with short commercials if I could do that, it would be a win/win. Making me pay to watch shitty streamed video on my computer would just make me download shows I want to see more often. This is especially true since I already have OnDemand through my cable service.
Posted by Justice on October 29th, 2009If hulu starts to charge. It will be over for them. Sure, you will have some people who stick with it. The same people who stick with itunes.
Posted by Hugo Van Nor on October 29th, 2009This will blow up in their faces. Why would I pay for NETWORK shows that are aired free on my TV…OH WAIT…I do pay for those by watching commercials, just like on HULU…and now Hulu wants me to pay MORE? how does that make sense?
Posted by Bob The Slob on October 29th, 2009FUCL HULU AND IT’S ”Only for America” bullshit rule!
Posted by asdasd on October 29th, 2009Leave a Reply