Hulu to Charge $10

[yeahwho]

Just read this article this morning, Hulu launches $10 video subscription service
(http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2012235661_apustechulusubscription.html)
Online video site Hulu, under pressure from its media company parents to generate a profit, has launched a subscription service with access to older episodes of popular television shows.

I visit Hulu once maybe twice a week tops but I find the forced commercials ridiculous. Which they plan on keeping.

I thought I would put up a poll, just to gauge if I'm wrong or not but I'm pretty sure they're asking for way too much money. $10.00 a year maybe. I am not gong to pay that is absolutely sure, anyone else here going to?

[Bob]

i don't see a problem with it. the $10 service just gives you access to older episodes, the normal hulu experience will remain free and unchanged. sure, ads are annoying, but it's still far less than what you have to put up with on normal television, and it doesn't sound like they're adding any extra ads or anything

[yeahwho]

I'm surprised, I have a blockbuster account and the older shows are available anytime I order them, nnline or hard copy disc. Plus with Comcast OnDemand most of my entertainment needs are met.

The only reason I can think of why I went to Hulu was to see a SNL short or band performance, the SNL site provides that too.

So you'll pay for TV online if it's ready to go? I'm not being cheap (or am I?) but $10 seems like a huge amount when most everything I ever would want to see is available w/o ads elsewhere. Even my local library has a huge selection of movies and TV shows.

[Echewta]

I pay $10 a month for a DVD and unlimited instant access on Netflix so I don't think $10 is too much though I do think they need to have richer content to be able to pull in the subscriptions.

[faz]

I'm surprised, I have a blockbuster account and the older shows are available anytime I order them, nnline or hard copy disc. Plus with Comcast OnDemand most of my entertainment needs are met.

How much do you pay for those things? Not everyone has them, so just paying for hulu would be better for some. And as bob says, the original hulu experience isnt changing. Also, stop making me talk about hulu. I live in the uk :(

[Bob]

it does seem kind of silly to charge $10/month and still have ads, i probably won't be buying this service but i still don't see how this is something to complain about. the hulu we've all known and loved will not change. it will still be free. this is just an extra service for people who want to pay for it. it has no negative consequences.

[checkyourprez]

it does seem kind of silly to charge $10/month and still have ads, i probably won't be buying this service but i still don't see how this is something to complain about. the hulu we've all known and loved will not change. it will still be free. this is just an extra service for people who want to pay for it. it has no negative consequences.

smh. your like a little naive boy who has just accepted some candy from a man driving a large white van with no windows.


this is only the beginning roberto.

[Bob]

you're not great with metaphors

[checkyourprez]

you're not great with metaphors

i am actually superb friend. your inadequacies at recognizing them are astounding.


this ten dollars is only the beginning of the sodomy that you will soon experience by the man named hulu in the white van.

[jabumbo]

compared to how much people pay for cable tv, this is like nothing. i guess it really depends on how deep their catalog is. ads on a pay service are a bit ridiculous though.

doesn't really bother me any, but i won't be buying it anytime soon

[yeahwho]

(put ad here)

reruns and commercials for $10.

(put ad here)

anyway you slice that dynamic you get ripped off.

(put ad here)

reruns and commercials for $10.

(put ad here)

anyway you slice that dynamic you get ripped off.

[Dorothy Wood]

people pay out the butt for cable tv and it still has a billion ads. i don't think hulu wants to make everyone pay...they want to be the go to site to watch tv online, they'd be shooting themselves in the foot if they changed things too much. i don't doubt that they won't creep in with longer ads and increasing charges in the long run though.

[milleson]

Is Hulu the "Alec Baldwin wants to eat my brain" thing? If not, this thread has nothing to offer me, pardon the interruption.

[Adam]

I voted other day to wtf is hulu. I get it now.

The thing with the web is that the system is broken and it needs changing. Things can't be free forever and companies need to make money to pay their people wages and their investors back (normally with a return for their faith). TV, film and news is fairly free on the web but someone has already paid for it somewhere. It can be paid for in a bubble, but one just recently popped and look at the mess we are cleaning up now, we could all wait for the next bubble or be intelligent about what we do.

Charging a subscription for sites will become a norm, might as well get used to it. They'll still be plenty of free stuff but it won't be the quality of the paid for stuff unless you receive the product illegally.

The whole thing has to change, personally I prefer a system of micro-payments to the ISP or a small subscription charge to many sites with lots of different content rather than subscribing to each site on its own. If google, microsoft, apple etc hasn't created or has a beta of such a system within 12 months I will be surprised.

[yeahwho]

Hulu is not losing money, they want to make more money. They currently have ads on two minute SNL skits. The free stuff is basically going to be ads, little snippets of the shows they hope you want to see and pay the premium to see. Hulu is corporate entertainment, these guys aren't kids at school.

Hulu is a joint venture of NBC Universal (General Electric), Fox Entertainment Group (News Corp) and ABC Inc. (The Walt Disney Company), with funding by Providence Equity Partners, which made a US$100 million equity investment and received a 10% stake. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hulu)

And sadly enough, In early March 2010, headlines were made when Viacom announced that they were pulling two of the website's most popular shows, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, off Hulu. The programs had been airing on Hulu since late 2008. A spokesman for Viacom noted: "In the current economic model, there is not that much in it for us to continue at this time. If they can get to the point where the monetization model is better, then we may go back."

The NYTimes did this two years ago, charged with ads and failed, epically. It is now back to free with ads. Readership is back and advertisement on their site is at a premium.

Hulu is an advertiser revenue generated medium, who would like you to pay now to see them make money with ads you cannot fast forward.

It's your $120 a year, Netflix and Blockbuster have DVD's and streaming too. With many more choices.

[jabumbo]

my name is yeahwho and i'm getting really worked up over something that nobody is really arguing.

[Dorothy Wood]

they've gotta get money somewhere, it's not getting made anywhere else! i'm not sure what you're so freaked out about...tv and movies cost money to make, if you don't wanna pay, don't pay! watch something else. watch free webisodes of shows made by regular people who host them on their own sites or something if you don't want to support corporations. *shrugs*

[yeahwho]

“Every crowd has a silver lining.”

Even P.T. Barnum would be amazed.