Hulu to require pay TV subscription

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Triumph

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
15,031
14
81
The content distributors are the ones making money off requiring TV subscriptions, not the studios. The studios would make just as much from an online streaming service as they would from Comcast et al. The problem is, they have existing agreements with Comcast et al. that won't let them stream.

I remember back in the earlier days of cable, the plug for the service was, "No commercials!", I mean why would you pay for a service if you still had to "pay" for it with commercials? Yeah you got better reception, but the no commercial gimmic just sort of went away. So yeah, the cable companies aren't necessarily adding any value, they're providing a distribution service that no one else could match. Now that they have competition through the internet for distributing TV shows, they're getting their panties in a bunch. And like the RIAA and MPAA, instead of fighting in the markets, they'll try to fight it in the courts and Congress.
 

mmntech

Lifer
Sep 20, 2007
17,501
12
0
Nice. They finally have working systems to combat piracy, and they do everything in their power to kill it and drive people right back to piracy? Idiots.

The best comparison I can make is when the RIAA moved to shut down Napster and sue its users instead of monotizing digital distribution early. I wonder how long it would have taken if Apple hadn't. This is the same. People want on demand online TV and they're going to get it whether Hulu has it or not. The writing is on the wall. Good news for Netflix indeed. This is also a good argument for net neutrality.
 

sourceninja

Diamond Member
Mar 8, 2005
8,805
65
91
I have a hulu+ subscription. If they force free users to have cable, I will cancel that subscription and find another means to get the few shows I watch. Honestly, I want to do this legitimately, but it's like they want me to pirate.
 

rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
52,844
1,049
126
I'm a cable (FIOS) subscriber... hulu better offer more than they already are for free if they're going to put people through this... for their sake.
 

FeuerFrei

Diamond Member
Mar 30, 2005
9,144
929
126
Hulu is my only source of tv these days.

Unfortunately for Hulu, I, the viewer, require free viewing.
If it comes to that, I'll resort to Over-the-air broadcasts, or just turn off the tv shows and live a more productive life.
 

lokiju

Lifer
May 29, 2003
18,526
5
0
Feel that canceling Hulu this past weekend was even more so the correct choice.

Got tired of the "only available on computer" crap and paying for the plus but still having to watch forced commercials.

It's worse than paying a cable/dish provider IMO. At least with my cheap Dish Network plan that's $35 a month for just HD and a 2 room DVR I can just record whatever I want to watch and view at a later date and skip the commercials.
 

Beev

Diamond Member
Apr 20, 2006
7,775
0
0
Feel that canceling Hulu this past weekend was even more so the correct choice.

Got tired of the "only available on computer" crap and paying for the plus but still having to watch forced commercials.

It's worse than paying a cable/dish provider IMO. At least with my cheap Dish Network plan that's $35 a month for just HD and a 2 room DVR I can just record whatever I want to watch and view at a later date and skip the commercials.

Commercials for Plus subscribers always blew my mind.
 

Triumph

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
15,031
14
81

That piece is purely opinion, in regards to the gloom and doom prophecies. Only in short sighted American economics can a company be "in trouble" when it adds a million users a month. "Durrrr, well that wasn't as good as what you said it was, so your stock will go down, durrrr!"

Netflix is filling a HUGE void in the customer base, as evidenced by this thread, and until Amazon actually expands their content to match, and with this news about Hulu, Netflix really has no competitors. They have opponents, but not competitors because Time Warner and Verizon don't want to give customers what they actually want.

Still, PaidContent.org reports the falling stock price and reports of Netflix's demise are premature. Netflix has an app for streaming available on just about every popular electronic device imaginable, and the company is among the first to go international with its service. While those might be good points, Netflix lacks the current and new release power to draw in new subscribers.

Here's the problem with American investment advice. Growth is all that matters. If you can't grow, people think you should fail, it is not enough to simply maintain. And it isn't even good to grow a lot. You have to grow MORE than you expected to. It's ridiculous. If the entire world subscribed to Netflix, Wall Street would send their stock plummeting because there is no further room for growth.
 

rockyct

Diamond Member
Jun 23, 2001
6,656
32
91
They're a lot more solid now then where they were about 6+ months ago when they had a string of some horrible/difficult decisions.

Overall, I like the direction they are going. I watch TV episodes via streaming and get movies by mail or at redbox and I think a lot of people are going this route as well. You could say they don't have a ton of growth left, but they are far more solid than a lot of other companies right now.
 

Darwin333

Lifer
Dec 11, 2006
19,946
2,329
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I think most people are willing to pay to watch their shows, or at least watch commercials. Remember, the free shows on Hulu are just a few episodes of a couple network's stuff. You still watch commercials and it's only the last few episodes of a show. Hulu Plus is mostly the same except you get the whole series of a few shows instead of a few episodes. There's some other premium content like the Criterion Collection, but most of it is shit, and you still have to watch commercials.

People want their shows on their tv and portable devices, and don't want to be restricted to a schedule or absolutely horrible DVR boxes. Basically, the cable companies refuse to put any real effort into getting people want they want so everyone is now giving up on them completely and switching to Neflix or yes, pirating. By refusing to adapt, they are forcing people to move away from them.

We're willing to pay, but we're not willing to keep the status quo going for the cable companies.

That is exactly the way I see it. It is just like the dumbass music industry when napster came out, they fought change even though that change is what the customer actually wanted. It took them forever to allow consumers to legally purchase and immediately download a song that didn't have absurd DRM bullshit on it. Up until that point it was flat out easier to pirate it and almost immediately get the song you want in the format you want. Think about how successful they would have been if during the Napster days they developed the current Itunes/Amazon/Google Play type options for purchasing music.

The same basic thing is happening now. We want to watch what we want when we want to. We don't mind paying for it as long as they make it easy and it doesn't suck balls.. I can already do this today things like Sickbeard and a relatively cheap boxee box and it just flat out works. I don't have to remember to set my DVR and its no big deal if I want to start watching a show in the middle of a season. I don't mind watching commercials and I do have a pretty darn expensive cable subscription but its still more convenient to "pirate" the content that I am already paying for.

Instead they fight tooth and nail to prevent the delivery method the consumers want from becoming a reality. Eventually they will embrace it because they will have no choice but until then they drive more and more people who would be paying customers to piracy. The big question is will they be able to return those people to paying customers once they pull their heads out of their asses.
 

Darwin333

Lifer
Dec 11, 2006
19,946
2,329
126
They're a lot more solid now then where they were about 6+ months ago when they had a string of some horrible/difficult decisions.

Overall, I like the direction they are going. I watch TV episodes via streaming and get movies by mail or at redbox and I think a lot of people are going this route as well. You could say they don't have a ton of growth left, but they are far more solid than a lot of other companies right now.

Personally, I think the cable companies will eventually slaughter Netflix. They are already paying a ton of Netflixs operating costs to deliver content that they sell themselves and they don't like it one bit. As bandwidth caps start effecting more and more people and cable companies start offering competing services (like Comcast) that don't go against your cap they will start seriously taking it in the shorts.
 

rockyct

Diamond Member
Jun 23, 2001
6,656
32
91
Personally, I think the cable companies will eventually slaughter Netflix. They are already paying a ton of Netflixs operating costs to deliver content that they sell themselves and they don't like it one bit. As bandwidth caps start effecting more and more people and cable companies start offering competing services (like Comcast) that don't go against your cap they will start seriously taking it in the shorts.
Oh there will be a war between them, but I don't know a single person who prefers their cable company to Netflix.

I really can't see a cable company actually making a legit competitor to Netflix. They're horrible UI worked ten years ago, but not now. I think it's more likely they'll use a branded Netflix for their online video content eventually.
 

aldamon

Diamond Member
Aug 2, 2000
3,280
0
76
The only shows we watched on Hulu were the ones I couldn't tune well for recordings on my file server. Since we just moved, I should have a better signal all around. Good-bye Hulu!
 

Nintendesert

Diamond Member
Mar 28, 2010
7,761
5
0
Hulu sucks anyways. I tried Hulu plus and I hated that I still had to watch lameass commercials even though I'm paying for the service. This is just the last straw for me in regards to it.

As for caps, those are simply anti-competitive measures the cable companies may try to use to drive other streaming services out of business. I'll enjoy seeing the lawsuits come out of it and see how things shake up.
 

Triumph

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
15,031
14
81
Hulu sucks anyways. I tried Hulu plus and I hated that I still had to watch lameass commercials even though I'm paying for the service. This is just the last straw for me in regards to it.

As for caps, those are simply anti-competitive measures the cable companies may try to use to drive other streaming services out of business. I'll enjoy seeing the lawsuits come out of it and see how things shake up.

The only people I see breaking the cable company's monopoly on distribution is AT&T. Cox, Comcast, and Verizon both distribute TV and internet, so they are not incentivized to make TV cheaper over the internet. No one else is going to lay land lines to every house in the country. That leaves wireless as the future of getting internet into people's homes, and by extension, television. Is AT&T strong enough to handle both of those competitors? I doubt it.
 

piasabird

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
17,168
60
91
This would be a stupid move for a company that wants to be a forward thinking Internet TV Provider. I would rather pay for the Hulu Subscription on their pay site. A lot of the stuff on the free end is barely worth watching or what I watch comes from an external source like Dramafever or vikki or some other source like crunchroll.

I have a real distaste from these stupid cable providers. I only want to pay for the channels I want to watch when I want to watch them. This should be the new Internet model.