Maybe Hulu Really Is An Evil Plot To Destroy The World

by Leon

June 4, 2009

The days of catching up on your favorite TV shows for free while you’re supposed to be working may be drawing to a close in the near future. NewsCorp.’s chief digital officer Johnathan Miller has stated that he would like to see some of the premium TV shows and movies featured on Hulu.com become available exclusively to paid subscribers. While this might be great news as far as workplace productivity goes, it is a major turn of events for the Hulu faithful who have come to love the site for it’s convenience and outstanding video quality.

Miller’s position is understandable, since one of the main objectives of his job is to find new ways to generate revenue from NewsCorp.’s holdings. Still, there has to be a better way. This strategy of “let’s give them a taste of the product to get them hooked, then start charging” is right out of the drug dealer playbook. Maybe those commercials are right: Maybe Hulu really is an evil plot to destroy the world!

All jokes aside, Hulu should possibly look into adding an extra commercial or two onto each stream, or allowing corporate sponsors to run promotions on the site that tie-into certain shows. Johnathan Miller should consider those options, before he risks alienating viewers by charging for something they can already see for free on their TV sets and TiVo to watch whenever it’s convenient. Then again, maybe he is already considering these options as well, since he is the chief digital officer at NewsCorp. One would assume that they pay him the big bucks for a reason…

The real problem here appears to be that networks are terrified because they still haven’t figured out a fool-proof system to get as much money out of digital media as possible. The writer’s strike of 2007-08 clearly illustrates that. Everyone realizes that the web is one of the most effective methods of promotion for television programs, but since there is no long standing blueprint for how to put a stranglehold on the profits, there is confusion. Which leads to chaos. Which leads to people charging for things that used to be free.

Category: News, Tech Humor, web 2.0 | Tags: Hulu.com, Johnathan Miller, NewsCorp, subscription

plasmatron

Offering an additional advertisement may bring enough additional profit this year, but what about next year? The problem is capitalism. Every business has to grow like a cancer, otherwise it's considered a failure. The problem with "free" in capitalism is that it's never really free. Look at over-the-air television. It's "free". Broadcast networks make billions of dollars in profits each year. But, in capitalism, that is never enough. It's always got to be more. So, the number of commercials per hour has increased dramatically over the years, while quality of programming has diminished, with scads more reality shows than scripted. Hulu faces the same economic pressure. When it started, network execs just wanted eyeballs. Now that eyeballs have found Hulu, execs want just a bit of cash. When they have a bit of cash, they'll want even more. Eventually, like most corporations under capitalism, the quality of the product becomes so diminished that eventually, it's undesirable. It is inevitable that Hulu will suffer the same fate.