Hulu to Charge Viewers for Broadcast Content in 2010

Say goodbye to freebies on Hulu. News Corp. Deputy Chairman Chase Carey told those in attendance at the Broadcasting & Cable OnScreen Summit, "It's time to start getting paid for broadcast content online." This isn't a new stance; News Corp. said earlier this year it would eventually find a financial model for Hulu that turned substantial profits, but we didn't know then that it meant next year. “I think a free model is a very difficult way to capture the value of our content," he continued. "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 that; it needs to evolve to have a meaningful subscription model as part of its business," added Carey. He is, of course, absolutely right, as much as you may hate to hear it or loathe wanting to admit it. The programming has costs, and if they're not going to watch it on TV, the traditional model, then the money to keep shows in business has to come from somewhere else. I don't know that I necessarily think this means that free content goes away for good, just that it will be arranged different. Broadcasting & Cable theorizes that it could be a way for Fox to put extra American Idol audition footage online, thereby giving some viewers want they want with no cost while simultaneously encouraging them to use a product they may find indispensable. Remember ten years ago when people shallowly and selfishly said downloading music from Napster and LimeWire was some kind of right? There's no way people would ever pay to download music once they got it for free? The iTunes model is a better method. The quality is guaranteed, the price is reasonable, and the access is almost immediate. There are still issues with it (a proprietary format being one of them), and some people still like to take their chances with the free services, but Hulu can and will use iTunes as an example, and it should profit greatly from it. Keep in mind that the more money Hulu makes, the better its catalog will become. And people will want to pay for that.

Comments

[Orinn]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Actualy I want complain until I here dollar amounts, then I will complain plenty.
Already cut cable to live off of Hulu, that means plan 3 goes into effect. Be 6 months behind in Tv and watch it all through Netflix.

[Jon]

Ha Ha Ha! It was always their intention to charge. All of Silicon Valley wants to charge. The question is how much?

How greedy do they get?

Is Hulu savvy to the potential long-term billions in micro-charging per click? Or will they out-price themselves for multi-million dollar greed? I'm feeling an "Amelia"-esque nosedive unless they get it absolutely positively right.