Hulu Looking at Pay To View Subscription Service
Hulu it seems are looking into launching a subscription based model of their online tv service. Last week the CEO of Hulu spoke about the website having a pay per view area and reports indicate that Hulu is now fully involved on building a subscription service.
Earlier this week, Rupert Murdoch chairman of News corp. and NBC’s CEO Jeff Zucker said they were investigating new avenues to pay (make more profit) from their joint online video streaming service venture.
The currently free website shows movies and TV shows from numerous content partners like Fox, ABC, Disney, and NBC. Drawing in around 9-42 million viewers every month, the site is currently supported by ad revenue but company is exploring other revenue options specifically subscription and pay per view options.
Rupert Murdoch has been quoted as saying “Are we looking at it with a view toward adding subscription services and pay per view? Yes we are.” However, he was quick to add that “no decisions have been made yet.”
NBC’s Zucker also hinted at the company’s interest in the matter. “Whether there are other ways to monetize Hulu down the road, it is something that we are open to, something we will explore,” he said, but like Murdoch, reiterated “there are no plans at this time.”
So how would a subscription based Hulu operate? Details are few and far between but logically the service would have to ditch the ads and possibly the quality would have to rise.
Cable giants, Comcast and Time Warner are doing a similar online subscription service with their ‘TV Everywhere’ project after their cable business suffered from the popularity on internet tv, and set about getting a piece of the online tv action. A pay per view model exists on iTunes.
Hulu gained its reputation and following by being a great and free service for watching NBC, FOX, and ABC shows and movies. How it will be received if it starts to charge for its service is not so certain.
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- Disney online TV love triangle now includes Hulu
- Hulu Considering Charging For Internet TV
- Hulu showing UK shows but only in the US
- Networks Make Hulu Block Streams to Mobile Phones
[...] thought process is a hot subject now across the world with Hulu dabbling with pay tv and Youtube looking at a pay per view model as [...]
Well its great to hear about this pay per view in Hulu. This could be a good idea of attracting even more people. You have given us a good and exciting news for all of us. I will be awaiting for this pay per view subscription in Hulu. Thanq and need more posts like this.
What are you sukesh, someone from Comcast? Noone would openly support having to pay for things they received at no price (other than watching commercials). It’s not exciting news, its tragic, it’s just one more horrible thing that groups like Comcast are trying to push.