Archive for the ‘Hulu’ Category
More signs Hulu subscription service is coming
October 22nd, 2009 | 
Author: On Thursday came more signals from News Corp. that Hulu will charge for at least some of its films and TV shows.
Chase Carey, News Corp.’s deputy chairman, suggested in comments he made at the OnScreen Media Summit that it’s just a matter of time before Hulu, the video service founded by News Corp. and NBC Universal, launches a subscription service.
“I think a free model is a very difficult way to capture the value of our content,” Carey said, according to a report Broadcasting & Cable, which co-hosted the conference. “I think what we need to do is deliver that content to consumers in a way where they will appreciate the value…Hulu concurs with (the notion) that it needs to evolve to have a meaningful subscription model as part of its business.”
Asked when Hulu would roll out its pay model, Carey, who has been to only one News Corp. board meeting since his recent arrival at the company, was less sure. According to Broadcasting & Cable, Carey thought the move would likely be made in 2010. He acknowledged however, that no timeline had been set.
Carey’s comments follow similar statements made by other News Corp. decision makers, including Rupert Murdoch, the company’s chairman. Murdoch has talked about charging for content at the online units of many of his media properties, including The Wall Street Journal.
If Hulu charges, it’s a big deal. The video site, which offers full-length TV shows from NBC Universal, Twentieth Century Fox Film, and other top entertainment companies, is a pioneer. It’s the first successful online ad-supported video service. If it begins to retreat from the ad-supported model, then what consumers may get left with is the cable model transplanted on the Web.
Charging for content online may not solve Hulu’s revenue problems. Subscription video-on-demand services have to compete with a score of sites that offer pirated content to consumers for free.
The presumption is that Hulu can’t sell enough ads or obtain the kind of ad rate that will generate the kind of money the studios are accustomed to getting. Experts say that if Hulu and other video sites try to put too many ads into the viewing experience, users will get annoyed.
It’s interesting to note that while News Corp. appears to be dissatisfied with the ad-supported model, Sony Pictures Entertainment appears to be doubling down on ad-supported Crackle.
None of the major studios are distributing more full-length feature films online than Sony Pictures. In February, Crackle began offering catalog film titles from its vast library on Crackle. Recently, “Taxidriver” made its ad-supported Internet debut.
Since Sony Pictures relaunched Crackle–formerly a user-generated video service–in February, the site’s premium monthly streams have grown to nearly 10 million, 27 percent of which were in the site’s core demographic (men, ages 18 to 34), according to statistics provided by ComScore. Time spent on Crackle has increased sevenfold in that period, to 13.4 minutes per unique session. In the core demographic, that number rises to 16.7 minutes.
Here’s another benefit that Crackle offers Sony. The site will post premium films when they aren’t under contract to a cable or broadcast TV station. Before Crackle came along, movies like “Taxidriver” would gather dust during the periods when they weren’t being aired.
We don’t know what kind of money is being made by Hulu or Crackle, but regardless of whether Hulu charges for its content, there is still hope for ad-supported movies and TV shows on the Internet.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-10381622-261.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Posted in Entertainment, Hulu, Internet | 
Tags: Hulu, News Corp, paid subscription | 
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MySpace, Hulu working on new video service
Rupert Murdoch said in July he wanted to reshape MySpace into more of an entertainment hub, and sources say the site now plans to launch a new video service sometime in the next several months with the help of sister site Hulu, CNET News has learned.
The big question is whether MySpace’s service will offer downloads or a subscription service.
Rupert Murdoch, News Corp. chairman
(Credit: Dan Farber/CNET Networks)
Murdoch, the chairman of media conglomerate News Corp., intends to overhaul MySpace Video by bringing in a larger number of feature films, TV shows, and music videos. The social network’s new video area will be given a major face lift, more exposure, and be re-branded so as to make it more attractive to advertisers, according to two sources with knowledge of the plans.
A MySpace spokeswoman declined to comment.
Murdoch’s News Corp. owns MySpace and a large chunk of Hulu, which also boasts NBC Universal and Disney as its other stakeholders.
MySpace already streams some of Hulu’s TV shows and a tiny number of full-length movies to users. But MySpace Video, as it is now, can’t come close to competing with the Web’s top video services, such as YouTube, Netflix’s Watch Now, or Crackle.
A visit to MySpace Video on Monday evening revealed a section that provided few clues that feature films or prime-time TV shows were even offered there. Besides being buried, the content is displayed on a jumbled Web page. The links to the few long-form films and shows are mixed in with the much more plentiful short clips and trailers. To be frank, the site is a mess.
“MySpace’s intention is to do a much better job of monetizing the video area,” said one source.
What isn’t clear is whether MySpace Video will offer downloads and subscriptions. Last week, Murdoch and and Jeff Zukor, CEO of NBC Universal, said ad-supported Hulu is considering whether to offer pay-per view and a subscription service.
Whether a new MySpace video service would also offer these isn’t clear.
But it seems logical to set up a Hulu storefront at MySpace, which would enable the site’s users to purchase a movie download or rent a flick without having to hop over to Hulu.
Source :
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10358200-93.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
