Hulu has made some sizeable waves in the television industry pond. The service makes “catch-up” episodes of current television shows available for free; all you have to do is sign up and endure a relatively few commercial interruptions during the show. (The service also has an extensive list of old show episodes and some mediocre [...]
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HDTV Almanac - Will Hulu Require a Cable Subscription?
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alfredpoor
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videograbber
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Re: HDTV Almanac - Will Hulu Require a Cable Subscription?
Alfred wrote:
> My advice is to be patient, and let the various services know what you like and what you don’t like. I expect that it will only get better as we go along. <
Thanks, Pollyanna.
[Hey, we gotta stir the pot a bit to encourage readership.]
As a contrary POV, I don't currently use Hulu, due to the paucity of HD content there. However, I terminated my cable service permanently, a couple years back, and if Hulu did institute the new policy that you've described, I'd drop them like a hot rock. I suspect I may not be the only one.
However I do agree with your assessment that for a lot of people (at the current time), this will not be a deal-breaker. But in the long run, it may wind up hurting Hulu more than it helps them. It may convert some Hulu-free to Hulu-Plus customers though, which I assume will be exempt from the cable-sub requirements.
> My advice is to be patient, and let the various services know what you like and what you don’t like. I expect that it will only get better as we go along. <
Thanks, Pollyanna.
[Hey, we gotta stir the pot a bit to encourage readership.]As a contrary POV, I don't currently use Hulu, due to the paucity of HD content there. However, I terminated my cable service permanently, a couple years back, and if Hulu did institute the new policy that you've described, I'd drop them like a hot rock. I suspect I may not be the only one.
However I do agree with your assessment that for a lot of people (at the current time), this will not be a deal-breaker. But in the long run, it may wind up hurting Hulu more than it helps them. It may convert some Hulu-free to Hulu-Plus customers though, which I assume will be exempt from the cable-sub requirements.
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alfredpoor
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Re: HDTV Almanac - Will Hulu Require a Cable Subscription?
Videograbber, here's an extra spoon in case yours wears out; please keep stirring vigorously!
One possible scenario is that requiring authentication for services such as Hulu will hasten the demand for a "virtual" cable subscription. You pay a base fee of $5 or $10 a month to get a Comcast account that does not include an actual cable connection. This would give you access to all the "authenticated" content, including through a "TV Everywhere" service. I believe that authentication could be the camel's nose under the tent that lets the cable companies become Internet TV distributors and shift their physical business to simply providing a data pipe to the home.
In any case, I've got my pleated skirt on with my pom-pons at the ready, cheering on the industry to give us more, everywhere, better, and for less money.
One possible scenario is that requiring authentication for services such as Hulu will hasten the demand for a "virtual" cable subscription. You pay a base fee of $5 or $10 a month to get a Comcast account that does not include an actual cable connection. This would give you access to all the "authenticated" content, including through a "TV Everywhere" service. I believe that authentication could be the camel's nose under the tent that lets the cable companies become Internet TV distributors and shift their physical business to simply providing a data pipe to the home.
In any case, I've got my pleated skirt on with my pom-pons at the ready, cheering on the industry to give us more, everywhere, better, and for less money.