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Hulu May Begin Charging For Video Content

Posted by timothy on from the might-even-pay-for-more-southland dept.

An anonymous reader writes "According to Jonathan Miller, News Corp's CDO, Hulu may soon begin charging subscription fees for some of their online content. News Corp is the parent company of Fox, which owns a huge portion of Hulu. When Miller of Newscorp was asked if Hulu would begin charging for online content during an Interview with Daily Finance, he said that 'the answer could be yes.' He went on to say that he doesn't 'see why over time that shouldn't happen.'"

8 of 313 comments (clear)

  1. Still not available by Jeruvy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Since we still can't watch Hulu in Canada, I won't be paying anything. It's probably cheaper than cable anyways.

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    Jeruvy
  2. Alt title: How to kill an extraordinary service by ecolossal · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Do they feel the need to add a subscription fee when they already show commercials....? Isn't that what drives dissatisfaction with cable?

  3. Not Smart by shma · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If they charge for on demand content, then people will just go back to downloading it for free.

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    I came here for a good argument
  4. Why not? by Nerdposeur · · Score: 4, Insightful

    He went on to say that he doesn't 'see why over time that shouldn't happen.'"

    Fine, but it's either subscription or ads. You don't get to do both.

    1. Re:Why not? by SwordsmanLuke · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Tell that to the cable company.

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      Any plan which depends on a fundamental change in human behavior is doomed from the start.
  5. Re:Surprised? by v1 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The first hit's always free...

    it's a great business model if you can afford front the startup costs without any initial customers. Attracts a lot more initial customers because you get a lot of people that normally would not pay for your service, but once they've had a sample of it they change their mind. Of course you'll lose a bunch of people when you switch to pay, but the only hit you'll take on that is what you've already fronted them with so it doesn't come as a surprise or a bad hit you didn't see coming or couldn't calculate/prepare for.

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    I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
  6. Re:Surprised? by sunderland56 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Did anyone really think they were going to give away their content for free forever?

    What, you mean like broadcast television?

  7. OK, now people, DO NOT PAY and it will pass... by rAiNsT0rm · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Seriously I try to get this through people's heads all the time... for geeks we sure can be dumb. It is and has been free. If everyone ignores the service if/when it goes pay or even if only parts go pay only IGNORE them, also make it known you are NOT going to pay for the content... ads are enough to deal with for the content. Then Hulu (which is already successful) will find alternate avenues for revenue. If everyone just jumps in right off the bat you have instantly ensured all future video services like this will be pay-only. Wake up! Please.

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    http://teasphere.wordpress.com - A little spot of tea