Friday, January 22, 2010

Get ready to pay for your HULU TV fix

Looks like HULU is going to start charging for content soon.

The popular Web site -- founded by NBC, Fox and ABC three years ago -- allows users to view HD-quality episodes of some of most popular TV shows, like "Grey's Anatomy," "Bones" and "The Office." Only the most recent shows are available, going back about five episodes.

Currently, users do not pay for the content, but see ads during viewing. There are also banner ads on the site.

But high-ranking officials from Fox and NBC have expressed a desire to increase earnings for HULU, for which the bandwidth costs are enormous.

This week, the Los Angeles Times quoted a source close to HULU as saying the Web site was looking at a subscription-based model that would allow viewers to see a show's entire back catalog. The $4.99 fee would grant access to the entire library of content. Another subscription-based model would allow users to view shows ad-free.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

This will be a massive failure. Nobody will pay to watch TV online when a simple google search will find you TV shows for free.

Anonymous said...

Pay a fee, and still have ads to endure? Insanity. Here's a business model for you to increase your profits...tighten your expense controls instead of just trying to saddle the consumer. Stop paying actors those excessive salaries, royalties, and perks.

Anonymous said...

"Pay a fee, and still have ads to endure? "

If you pay for cable or satellite tv, you do this already.

Likewise, if you pay to go to the movies, or buy or rent one, you see ads. If you pay to go to an event, sports or theatre, for example, you see ads.

Unknown said...

I would have no problem paying a fee if they would just let you download high resolution files so I can watch them on any tv in my house on my time. Mobile devices with files loaded to them. I know I can get software to save into a fille format but they are hard to get good pictures.

LilyLonging said...

A $5 monthly fee? No problem. I pay more for coffee at Starbucks.
Esp. if the fee gets me access to all the back episodes. That's quicker and cheaper than getting show DVDs from NetFlick.
More than happy to pay for that service. Hulu has been very good to me and I'd like to keep it alive.