We’ve been following this one closely here at The Flickcast because we’re big fans of Hulu and think it’s a great way to watch TV shows and movies you missed when they originally aired or to discover new shows. The service has many things going for it but one of its main attractions is that, at the moment, its free. You only have to watch a few commercials during a normal episode of a TV program, for example, and other than that, the service costs you nothing.
As we’ve discussed before, that may change in the near future. And now, Hulu is talking about yet another pricing model: charging users to watch episodes of 30 Rock, Modern Family and House. The move would mark a significant change for the site, which was launched nearly two years ago by a group of studios to distribute TV shows and movies via the Internet without charge.
According to reports, Hulu has spent the last several months trying to figure out how to balance what users expect to see for free with what they would be willing to pay for. Another plan being considered would allow users to view the five most recent episodes of TV shows for free but would require a subscription of $4.99 a month to watch older episodes.
Hulu believes it will need at least 20 TV series — both current ones and those no longer on the air — to make such a pay service attractive to users. A firm pricing model could emerge within six months. Well, at least they seem to be taking their time to figure out the right way to screw serve us.
Chris Ullrich
January 22, 2010 at 3:41 pmSadly, News Corp is a part owner of Hulu and Rupert Murdoch doesn’t get it. So, I expect Hulu to implode at some point. Until then, I’ll keep watching and enjoying it.
frothygirl/shannon hood
January 22, 2010 at 1:32 pmThey don’t understand that this will just drive people away. Silly move. Defeats the whole purpose of their original business model, and they will be competing with iTunes, the network websites, regular television, and cable.