News October 23, 2009

How to ruin a great thing – Hulu to charge?

Gear Diary How to ruin a great thing Hulu to charge? photo

I love Hulu. The online based service that allows you to watch media content, including movies, TV shows etc. is a staple around my home. I have it on all my computers and on my Apple TV. If I forget to record an episode of one of my weekly shows I’m usually able to catch it on Hulu.

Well it seems all good things must come to an end. You see currently Hulu is 100% free. While you’re subjected to a few advertisements here and there you pay absolutely nothing for the service. I know of several people who have ditched their cable service altogether and gone strictly to using Hulu.

Just this week however News Corp. Deputy Chairman, Chase Carey revealed Hulu’s new plan at an industry Summit in New York. Broadcasting and Cable reports that Carey informed reporters that a subscription based system is likely but, there may still be some free content.

So will I have to start paying to catch up on my missed prime time TV shows while my kids can still watch old episodes of “I Dream of Jeannie” for free?

Say it isn’t so!

Via Broadcasting and Cable

Tags: Movies and Streaming Video, TV Shows

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About LarryGreenberg

View all posts by LarryGreenberg

I have always had a passion for gear and gadgets. It all started for me with the release of the very first Palm Pilot. I've always had an interest in handheld electronics. From handheld PDAs, to cell phones, Mp3 players, watches and other products, I'm the first person my friends, family and colleagues call when they need advice on tech. I have roots in the online tech. forum community. I served as the Administrator to Howard Forums.com and as a Moderator at both Treo Central.com and Blackberry Forums.net. Under the screen name “lgreenberg” I've amassed 50,000+ postings. I also manage my own YouTube channel under the user name larrygreenberg. I'm always eager to help.

http://www.geardiary.com Michael Anderson

I was reading something a few weeks ago that said that even with Hulu and other services, more folks use BitTorrent to pull TV shows to watch than anything else. This will only drive more folks in that direction.
http://www.geardiary.com Carly Z

Nooooooo!

Seriously, this sucks…I use Hulu and my cable’s on demand all the time to catch shows that either didn’t make the Tivo cut, or that were so far down the list of tv priorities in my house that I dont have time to catch them when they air.

If they’re going to charge for Hulu, could they at least not load every show on TV on Thursday nights? Please?
Jessica Fritsche

I would gladly pay for Hulu on a monthly basis ($10 maximum, especially if you can get streaming Netflix for about that per month) if they removed ads for what I was viewing and also opened Hulu up more again so that Boxee could have an actual Hulu app instead of the Mozilla browser workaround–it was just so much more elegant before Hulu put the brakes on.

That said, I’m sad to see them go the subscription route though not surprised.
http://www.geardiary.com Michael Anderson

We have no DVR and almost never use Hulu – we find that sticking to the ‘if your butt isn’t on the couch on time you miss it’ mentality limits the crap we watch.
Mark Chinsky

Guess its back to the torrents again.

The results of this should prove interesting. if its successful, than most of the premium web will go pay. If it fails, there it will prove that the vast majority of ‘advertiser’ supported websites can never be profitable.
cyberg00se

How is this site even relevant to most of the internet? Seriously, most of the content is for US-only, so this little crappy POS site really doesn’t matter at all for the vast majority of internet users.

So yeah, great business model for them, restrict the customer base and charge them money for stuff they’re ALREADY PAYING FOR in their TV subscriptions.

What corporate suit from the distribution companies convinced them that it was a bright idea and sustainable?

Oh well, sucks to be them.
Joel McLaughlin

I have recently loaded the Linux version of the Hulu desktop and am enjoying it a a lot. I just wish I had a TV with HDMI so I could watch it on a bigger screen.
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http://www.grabaclue.com/perry Perry

If the goal is to kill Hulu off entirely, then charging a subscription fee is the obvious solution. That oughta do it fairly efficiently.

I watch Hulu regularly, but if I have to pay for it, that will change immediately. There’s a reason ad-supported TV is much more common than pay-per-view.
JeffA

@Larry Greenberg: How do you have Hulu on your Apple TV?
Just curious, I thought it was limited to the features in the Apple TV OS.
I just did the Apple TV update and was pleased to see the internet radio feature! I can listen to stations all over and not be limited to the XM stations I have on my DirecTV. I would love to add more apps to Apple TV! How about a browser and wireless keyboard!