Hulu to require pay TV subscription

[Gonad the Barbarian]

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/tv_in_real_dime_ph0GiKk7rC9agDUEkHae2I

Viewers who stream network TV shows may soon discover the free ride is not so free.

Hulu, which attracted 31 million unique users in March under a free-for-all model, is taking its first steps to change to a model where viewers will have to prove they are a pay-TV customer to watch their favorite shows, sources tell The Post.

In fact, the move by Hulu toward the new model — called authentication because viewers would have to log in with their cable or satellite TV account number — was behind the move last week by Providence Equity Partners to cash out of Hulu after five years, these sources said.

And it’s not just Hulu making it tougher for cable-cutters to stream shows and other content.

Fox, owned by News Corp., which also owns The Post, is expected to begin talks soon with Comcast on a TV Everywhere deal that will require authentication. Plus, Philadelphia-based Comcast is expected to switch to an authentication model for this summer’s Olympic Games (see story at right).

The move toward authentication is fueled by cable companies and networks looking to protect and profit from their content.

The effort comes as entertainment companies continue to face drastic shifts in home viewing habits. Overall spending on home entertainment edged up 2.5 percent to $4.45 billion in the first quarter as a surge in digital streaming — which rose more than fivefold to $549 million — offset a continuing collapse in video rentals, according to Digital Entertainment Group.

Hulu, owned by News Corp., Disney, Comcast and Providence, could see its March audience, as measured by ComScore, shrink after authentication. Hulu racked up some $420 million in ad revenue last year and is expected to do well in this year’s ad negotiations.

But the move toward authentication, which could take years to complete, will make cable companies happy because it could slow cord-cutting by making cable subscribing more attractive.

At the same time, networks are asking cable companies for retransmission money, a process that could be more appetizing for Comcast and its rivals if their subscriber base stopped shrinking.

To be sure, Hulu’s slow move toward authentication comes amid a jumble of cable and network game plans for streaming — which remain a strategic nightmare thanks to the complicated nature of the TV Everywhere initiative, which is aimed at keeping top shelf digital video exclusive to pay-TV subscribers.

Comcast’s own NBCUniversal, for example, has a patchwork approach to authentication.

Rage on!

 

[Beev]

/shrug. Just gonna pirate now. I don't want a cable plan. I'll get what I want a la carte or I'll take it.

 

[Tobolo]

Will this apply to Hulu plus since we are already paying a fee to watch the shows?

 

[SMOGZINN]

/shrug. Just gonna pirate now. I don't want a cable plan. I'll get what I want a la carte or I'll take it.

It's not pirating, you are just using antenna sharing.

 

[Miramonti]

RIP hulu.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I don't pirate and I canceled my cable a year ago, but Hulu always annoyed me with the commercials and poor streaming service compared to Netflix.

So I'll just keep waiting for Netflix to get the seasons on streaming or DVD/BD. And if I'm desperate to see something before then, paying Amazon $2/episode is still much cheaper than giving Comcast $100/month.

 

[SSSnail]

Good news for Netflix

 

[phreaqe]

I knew that comcast getting their hands on hulu would be trouble....

It was a great run, and i hope that someday a company will break the stranglehold the cable companies have on the market. I thought Hulu was the one, but i guess not.

 

[busydude]

I think cable cos. days are numbered. In a way I feel pretty darn happy.. that they are finding ways to make extra money by which they are shooting themselves in the foot.

 

[maniacalpha1-1]

Good news for Netflix

Netflix doesn't have everything streaming, but oh well, gotta request the discs.

 

[ch33zw1z]

It's been fun, Hulu.

 

[pauldun170]

Finally time to uninstall a rarely used application.

 

[crashtestdummy]

I don't mind the idea of having to pay for TV I want to see. As I get older, I've come to realize that I need to vote with my wallet for things I value. What I don't think makes sense any more is this multichannel subscription model that cable companies use. When I was on a business trip to LA last month, my hotel room had cable, but I found myself switching over to Hulu and PBS's website because cable had 100 channels of crap on. If you're going to offer TV shows in an on demand format, then I should be able to pay for them that way, too.

What if, for example, Hulu (or a similar service) offered each series at $10 a season, streamed with ads? I watch a total of four shows there (Daily Show, Colbert, Community, and 30 Rock), leaving a total of $40 a year. I'd be happy to pay that money instead of a TV subscription (where sports games are the only non-broadcast thing I watch), and it would ensure that my money goes to shows that I enjoy.

The only tricky part is that it would make it hard for shows to grab my attention, but that could be easily done by offering the first episode of every season for free.

It would also allow for people to largely discard the idea of a network altogether. I could gather up investors, run a pilot, and reap it in as people subscribe. Networks could still serve a purpose as one of many production companies, but it would be less important.

 

[gevorg]

Its actually good news to me, since I'll avoid watching Hulu with their commercials and just wait until the full season is on Netflix/elsewhere. Saves time and trouble. Hulu is convenient but quite a bit of a time waster.

The cord-cutting "revolution" has started and there is nothing cable companies can do about it.

 

[DestinyKnight]

Its actually good news to me, since I'll avoid watching Hulu with their commercials and just wait until the full season is on Netflix/elsewhere. Saves time and trouble. Hulu is convenient but quite a bit of a time waster.

The cord-cutting "revolution" has started and there is nothing cable companies can do about it.

Truth. I haven't had a TV and cable service in my house for 5 years now. When I want to watch something, it's streamed on demand to my pc via youtube, netflix or bt. Hulu's "authentication" requirement will be it's death knell.

 

[DesiPower]

Good, freebies are killing US entertainment industry... I am all for it, I regularly watch Hulu and will be more than happy to authenticate. A few ads do not make enough money for them which can anyways be blocked with ABP. I love good shows and want them to make more money so that they can keep coming.

 

[Kadarin]

I'm perfectly ok with paying for the tv I watch, and I do with shows like Fringe and Game of Thrones. However, I'm NOT willing to pay ~$80-100/mo for a whole lot of crap I'm not interested in.

This move on their part is going to make people just stop using Hulu. The cable/satellite industry has competition from the internet, and it appears that they have no real idea how to counter it or use the internet to generate sales.

 

[pontifex]

cable companies should offer a service where you pay for a certain amount of channels, say 10, 20, 30 and price them that way, but allow the consumers to choose which channels they want.

So you could pick like Comedy Central, History, Cartoon Network, ESPN, SyFy, etc instead of getting 50 channels and only watching maybe 10 of them.

 

[sygyzy]

cable companies should offer a service where you pay for a certain amount of channels, say 10, 20, 30 and price them that way, but allow the consumers to choose which channels they want.

So you could pick like Comedy Central, History, Cartoon Network, ESPN, SyFy, etc instead of getting 50 channels and only watching maybe 10 of them.

Amazing idea. Did you come up with it yourself?

 

[NutBucket]

Meh. After not having cable the last two years I find myself watching less TV anyway.

The network shows I like can be recorded OTA on my HTPC and there's lots of stuff on Netflix to watch. I don't watch Hulu much as it is so no big loss.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Never cared for Hulu anyway. Good riddance.

 

[Doppel]

As many like to do I like to predict future technologies. I must admit I got this one wrong. I thought that by now we'd have much better streaming options, but in truth I'm concerned they'll be even worse a year from now than they are today (in terms of cost, availability of content, etc.). I think I realized this some months back when I read an article about how voraciously cable/satellite will defend their businesses and that streaming will continue to get sloppy seconds. This news from Hulu today helps affirm it.

So the end game of killing a cable/satellite subscription and doing everything online remains a distant dream for those of us who want the best content on the same day it's available for everyone else on cable/sat. This news isn't good for Hulu at all.

 

[JackBurton]

Good, freebies are killing US entertainment industry... I am all for it, I regularly watch Hulu and will be more than happy to authenticate. A few ads do not make enough money for them which can anyways be blocked with ABP. I love good shows and want them to make more money so that they can keep coming.

lol!

 

[pontifex]

Amazing idea. Did you come up with it yourself?

no need to be a jackass...oh wait, i forgot where i was...

 

[Shawn]

goodbye hulu, hello eztv.it