Just when free tv on the internet was starting to get good, Hulu board member Jon Miller had to go and talk about subscription fees. Miller, an AOL refugee who’s now squeezing cash out of consumers for News Corp, said last week of subscription fees: “in my opinion the answer could be yes. I don’t see why that shouldn’t happen over time… it seems to me that over time that could be a logical thing.” Charging for content isn’t his only big idea…
“I think what works for consumers most likely-and this has to be tested, frankly-is bundles,” he said. “I think you have to figure out what are the right bundles that people buy and what’s contained in that bundle. For example, you could have-and I’m making this up entirely-you could have a New York bundle, and that could consist of various papers or publications that are relevant to the audience in New York, and you could make that all, potentially, a bundle to a consumer at one price.”
What do you guys think? Would you pay for Hulu? Tell us in the comments.
Hulu board member: let’s talk subscription fees [Ars Technica]
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The way hulu works right no I do not see myself paying for it. BUT, if i can drop cable/satellite for hulu i would be willing to pay.
- That means that for a small monthly fee, $15 or so, I get:
- all the shows on hulu plus episodes from shows on hulu that are not on there (older episodes).
- They must leave all the shows on there all the time for me to watch (never take it down, EVER).
- All the shows from most or all other channels espe. ones not currently on hulu (national geographic, USA, travel channel, etc).
- No ads or at the very least very light ads (as much as they have right now but not a small amount more).
- I want to watch it on my terms, that means boxee on ubuntu AND hulu desktop.
When those things are in place and are consistent, they can have my money. Oh, and the second my ISP starts capping internet bandwidth and usage the whole deal is off.
Doesn’t matter to me. Can’t watch it in Canada anyway.
I would not pay for Hulu. I really only use it because streaming directly from FOX or NBC online blows.
I watch TV online, because I don’t have time during the week to watch it. I’m a college student, and I don’t watch enough TV to warrant a DVR. So, for the handful of shows I do watch, I will stream them online, either Hulu or ABC online (I like their player). If networks take away my ability to stream these shows, I will probably seek ways to download them, as I did before most shows were viewable online.
Well, let’s see. I watch:
Survivor (available CBS.com)
The Office (available NBC.com)
The news (available internet)
Sorry Hulu, you lose.
I love Hulu and have used it since it first came out, but if they start charging for what little content they actually offer, then it’s back to pirating the shows, sorry. Hulu grew from the idea that people were getting the shows for free, so they might as well give it away with commercials. If they charge people, people will go back to pirating. Bottom line. You can debate the morality of it all you want, but the fact remains.
i don’t have cable because i can watch my shows on hulu, and i also have the roku from netflix. combined, these give me plenty of stuff to watch, for a much lower price than cable.
if i had to pay for hulu, i’d just get cable – with a free dvr to skip channels and the opportunity to randomly catch stuff while channel surfing. hulu’s great, but literally its only advantage is that its free.
Exactly. If it’s going to start costing money, there better be more added value. Such as, NO advertisements during the shows, and actual HD quality shows with decent sound quality. And I’d love an Apple TV (via Boxee if necessary, since it was working juuuuuust fine before the ‘content providers’ had their little bitch fit) way to do it.
Otherwise, TV = dead to me.
I might pay something for Hulu, say, in place of Netflix. But I have no interest in “bundles.” The whole thing about Hulu is that I just go find the particular show I want to watch, and I watch it. I don’t care what other shows are made by the same people or show at the same time or anything. I don’t want to. I just want my particular, few shows.
Actually, I should go write this to Hulu.
First HULU does everything it can do to get me to log onto their site, to look at the embedded commercials. They run these funny ads all the time, and almost beg us to go to their website. Now they want me to PAY to watch the commercials they already get paid to display?
I was doing fine without HULU, and I will do so again! As soon as HULU adds a fee….. or anything that smells like a fee, I will somehow lose my HULU ID and Password.
No, I would never consider paying for Hulu. Since I only watch the Daily Show and Colbert Report on there, I can just watch those on Comedy Central’s website. Unless they start charging. I buy the shows I like that aren’t available elsewhere for free on iTunes. I keep them forever and there are no commercials. I refuse to pay AND watch commercials. This is why I don’t have cable and have to use Hulu in the first place.
I tried it a few times for Family Guy, but I noticed they ran the same episodes that Fox.com did. So why bother with Hulu? Fox is free. Are there any other shows that run like this on Hulu or is that just a freak thing? Anyone?
@Black-Cat: A lot of the shows that are on Hulu are also on the network’s web sites if they also put online video up. Personally, I like Hulu’s player better. It gives me a lot less trouble and doesn’t ask me to install anything.
There are some shows though that aren’t on any other web site as far as I can tell (at least not legally). There’s an anime called Bleach and although Cartoon Network airs the dubbed version they don’t put the episodes online.
@Rectilinear Propagation: Now that you mention the player thing, I remember the one Fox wants you to download is awful. Sputters and stutters all the time. Thanks for the info.
@undefined: Just means people switch to torrents/youtube.
It’s hard to make people pay for something they view as a public good.
@undefined: There are plenty of pay/subscription models that work on the web and have for over a decade. They’re called porn sites. And while free porn is starting to chip away at the less@TheWillow: I’m sure there are about 1,000 porn sites that could prove you wrong. So could WSJ.com. And every fantasy sports website. So your comment is flat out wrong.
@johnfrombrooklyn: You don’t pay for porn, do you?
Funny how everyone loves and thinks Hulu is a well-run new media company; the minute an exec floats the idea of some type of “paid content” everyone trots out the tired “they just don’t get it” line. I’d gladly pay a monthly subscription if I could get better content, download the shows, and watch them where I want. I’d much rather pay to watch 30 Rock than a laughing squirrel on YouTube. And don’t think YouTube isn’t toying with the idea of charging for content. It’s losing $500 million a year.
Bundles? Why in the hell would people pay money to get access to less content?
If you want people to pay you have to give them more: more GOOD movies, more shows, more episodes of those shows. The only thing people want less of are ads.
Furthermore, I want my viewership to matter if I’m paying to watch a show online. I don’t want these networks taking a cut and then deciding to cancel a popular show anyway because there aren’t enough people watching it on TV instead of online.
I agree with someone upthread: Leave the free service as-is, but add a pay service with “extras” – no ads, full seasons available, extra content.
Path of least resistance is the order of the day. When Hulu starts charging… there are other streaming alternatives. And if they all go “pay” then there’s always still my HTPC that is attached to my Slingbox HD.
Regardless, I have a lot of alternatives until I need to pay for Hulu.
Hulu should be happy with the advertising dollars and stay popular.
I am happy to pay for Hulu, so long as it is not an eye-gouging, consumer-fucking amount, and as long as I can then stream shows directly to my TV (and cancel my cable).
However.
I am not going to pay for a fucking BUNDLE. That’s what I hate about Cable NOW. I only want to pay for the shit I’m actually going to watch, that way, my ass can vote with my dollars when I like something and give the finger to shows I think are stupid.
If I am forced to continue paying for bullshit TV, I would rather not bother and just continue stealing it on some other video service.
I would simply find other free alternatives if Hulu start to charge for the service. There are plenty others, with no limits to the geographical areas.
Once they start charging for content I stop using it. Back to isohunt and mininova for me.
I wouldn’t mind paying a very, very low price, but I’d need better quality streams, new ways of accessing the material (like via my 360), and of course no commercials.
@trujunglist:
I almost forgot: i’d also need to only be paying for the stuff I like to watch and nothing else. I’m not paying for shit I don’t like.
Hulu isn’t even that great. it has long lags and you can’t preload the vid, and there’s sometimes commercials. Often they just rout the vid from the show’s actual website, where the connection and quality is better. And they don’t keep vids more than a few months. So, it’s nice if you want to use some alternative site to watch the latest must see network tv, but if that’s what you’re into, why are you watching tv on the internet?
And they don’t keep vids more than a few months.
@BytheSea: That depends on the show. There are some few shows where the episodes they get just stay up there.
So, it’s nice if you want to use some alternative site to watch the latest must see network tv, but if that’s what you’re into, why are you watching tv on the internet?
Because it’s cheaper. Also, because Charter sucks.
Thepiratebay/bittorrent isn’t that inconvenient. Hulu only wins on convienence. I might consider micropayments, if I actually had any income at the moment…
And bundling? If I wanted to be forced to buy bundles (mostly) of crap I don’t want, then I’d just buy a cable subscription.
Idiots……simple as that.
I watch the occasional show on HULU but if I had to pay…..no way!