Hulu, the website popular for watching television shows, plans to begin testing a subscription service as soon as
Under the proposal, Hulu would continue to provide for free the five most recent episodes of shows such as Fox’s “Glee,”
Hulu, which ranks second only to
YouTube in terms of monthly video streams in the U.S., said it turned
an operating profit in its two most recent quarters. The 2-year-old
service, which is owned by media giants
Still, that doesn’t come close to matching the
revenue that these companies are accustomed to raking in from their
more established businesses. That’s why Hulu is under pressure from its
owners to collect a subscription fee to both bolster revenue and train
viewers to pay for online access to professionally produced content.
Television executives don’t want to suffer the same
fate as music industry or newspapers, which saw users flock to free
access to songs, stories and classified ads online — and revenues
plummet.
In the past, Hulu primarily offered shows that were
broadcast over the air for free. But now, as the major networks are
trying to extract payments from cable operators and television station
groups, they can no longer justify offering the same shows online for
free. Shows on Hulu also carry commercials, however there are fewer
spots there than on regular television. Ultimately, Hulu is expected to
adopt the same commercial loads as network television.
Hulu did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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