The internet video giant Hulu will begin charging in 2010, on a subscription model for its content according to Chase Carey, News Corp’s deputy chairman.
Hulu, the very popular portal for television content on the internet has seen explosive growth since its launch, and has proven that consumers will sit through commercials online. Hulu did away with the worry that online viewers would instead pirate video to avoid watching short advertisements.
Hulu has been experimenting with different ad formats recently, letting viewers watch one extra long pre-roll advertisement, instead of a number of shorter interruptions. However, it is now apparent that Hulu is keen to raise its revenue per user by charging directly.
There is no current set timetable, but Carey expects it to happen in 2010. Carey quoted the famous Zucker line that “We’re exchanging analogue dollars for digital dimes,” as a point in favor of charging for Hulu content.
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For now, we are not sure what will be charged for, and in what way. They might only be contemplating the ability to have less advertisements for a small monthly rate, like Pandora, or perhaps a set monthly rate for a set number of streams. For now, it is anyones guess.
Will you pay for Hulu? If not, where will you get the content that you currently get from Hulu?
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