They're charging WHAT?!
But word is that Hulu is going to start charging for their services in 2010, rather than being entirely ad-supported. Via Newsarama:
“I think a free model is a very difficult way to capture the value of our content. I think what we need to do is deliver that content to consumers in a way where they will appreciate the value,” Carey said. “Hulu concurs with that, it needs to evolve to have a meaningful subscription model as part of its business.”
Of course, there's no word on what kind of pay structure it will have-- a subscription, like Crunchyroll, or perhaps per-video payment system? Points? And that doesn't even begin to touch on the actual dollar amounts we'd be talking.
In the meantime, I have e-mails out to all three of the aforementioned companies to see if any of them have any comment on what this will mean for their streaming efforts-- particularly VIZ and its simulcasts.
What do you think? Are you willing to pay for Hulu? How cheap would it have to be to retain your viewership?
Nonetheless, it shows the difficulties of keeping a streaming video business running on the net and making it profitable and legit. You can blame piracy or money-grubbing producers, but in the end someone's gotta pay for the content.
"We don't foresee that a change to a subscription based model will affect our relationship with Hulu. Hulu has been a great partner with great content and we will continue to put anime series on the site as long as entertainment fans continue to go there to watch their favorite series or find a new one to love."
I'd think Funimation would be able to set its own rules for access to its content there though, wouldn't they?
I think it depends. Content providers can make their own rules with a small company like Crunchyroll, but Hulu is co-owned by some of the biggest media conglomerates in the US, if not the world, so...maybe not.
I don't mind Hulu moving to a paid model -- advertising revenue isn't what it used to be anywhere, so I don't see how they could have a sustainable model with the limited commercials that they do run.
Don't tell me they not going stop running the ads when they do this also.
As such, the amount you can get for CPM isn't very high, because there isn't a lot of direct return on investment, which means you don't get a lot of money with the ads.
We'll see what Hulu decides to do about the ads they currently run, though.
Also, I'd never pay for something that used to be free.
It really depends on just how it charges and what for. I really don't see Hulu going completely paid content. It'll have to keep some free videos and charge for premium content, similar to crunchyroll. However, I don't know where it'll draw the line, and where ever it does, it's going to alienate a lot of viewers that fall on the pay side.
wow