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Hulu Plus Subscription Service Could Kill All-Free Implementation

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News Posted: Thu, Apr 22 2010 9:05 PM
Now that you've been sucked in and have grown hopelessly addicted toHulu, it looks like you may have to pay in order to continue getting"your fix." Since its introduction, Hulu has been free to end-users.They simply logged on, selected a show, and enjoyed the stream (so longas they watched the ads). It felt somewhat too good to be true, butgiven the general push to consume content in atypical ways, we figuredit may just be the way of the future. Now, we get the feeling that wemay have made that assumption too soon.

According to a report at the Los Angeles Times, Hulu may only betotally free for another month or so. Starting on May 24th, Hulu Plusmay become a reality. The story goes something like this: Hulu Pluswould require a $9.95 per month subscription fee, which would allowviewers to watch shows older than the most recent five. Those who don'twant to pay can still see the most recent five episodes of any givenshow on Hulu, so at least that's a bit plus.



Hulu had been making money since its inception, but obviously notenough. Advertising revenues have remained strong, but the executivesat Hulu would prefer to bring in that money plus subscription fees, andfrankly, it'll take a change like this to convince consumers that allcontent isn't just without any cost whatsoever. Hulu has yet to say ifthese reports are true or false, but everything makes perfect sense.We've heard rumors of of Hulu charging for access in the past, but onlycharging the heaviest users seems like a nice compromise. It's betterthan charging everyone for every piece of access, and so long as youkeep up-to-date on viewing, you won't really have a need to view thearchives.

Would you pay $10/month to enjoy all of Hulu? Would you ditch your cable company in order to do so?
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Khellendross replied on Thu, Apr 22 2010 9:25 PM

I ditched DirectTV since I can find anything I would wanna watch there online anyway.

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MrBrownSound replied on Thu, Apr 22 2010 10:35 PM

For some reason ads while watching anything on my PC seems horrific and makes me enraged.

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animatortom replied on Thu, Apr 22 2010 11:38 PM

NO I wouldn't pay!

Of course they want to be greedy, they also have to figure out a way to pay for all those actors they use in their commercials! why would you pay and still have to watch commercials? It is more economical to have multiple DVRs and record from Dish or others, At least that way you can keep any programs you like and fast forwards all commercials :P

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bob_on_the_cob replied on Fri, Apr 23 2010 2:54 AM

News:
Now that you've been sucked in and have grown hopelessly addicted toHulu, it looks like you may have to pay in order to continue getting"your fix." Since its introduction, Hulu has been free to end-users.They simply logged on, selected a show, and enjoyed the stream (so longas they watched the ads). It felt somewhat too good to be true, butgiven the general push to consume content in atypical ways, we figuredit may just be the way of the future. Now, we get the feeling that wemay have made that assumption too soon.

What? If you don't wanna pay you don't have to. The same that has always been free still is. Why open like that?

animatortom:
It is more economical to have multiple DVRs and record from Dish or others,
And they will cost you at least $10 a month each. Plus the $50+ a month for the service. How is that more economical?

I don't see why everyone is so negative about this. It is the same Hulu as ever, but if you want extra back catalog then you pay $10 a month. If you want to enjoy it just as you always have then nothing changes. They could have done something stupid, but they are keeping everything the same. If you don't wanna pay then don't. I really really don't understand the hate here. Totally baffled right now. I think this is just fine.

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Lev_Astov replied on Fri, Apr 23 2010 11:35 AM

Agreed, bob. I love you guys at HH, but please, please don't go down that route of fear and anger mongering that so many other news services have taken.

From everything I have poured over pertaining to the Hulu Plus service, it will be nothing but good for us all, though I don't particularly feel the need to watch older episodes.

Now, if they were to offer a $20 service that did all that and cut out ads, I'd be all over it in an instant. I can tell you right now (any Hulu execs listening), $10 or $20 from me is worth way more to you than your ad revenue, since I actively avoid buying products from ads that are forced on me.

><((((">Lev Astov

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realneil replied on Fri, Apr 23 2010 12:57 PM

what's HULU?

(just kidding)

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.

(Mark Twain)

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