Hey remember when Hulu was supposed to be the thing — or one of the things — that would help liberate us all from cable companies and the ridiculous rates they charge for their services. Well, think again current and potential would-be cord-cutters.
Reports Fox Business:
Hulu, which attracted 31 million unique users in March under a free-for-all model, is taking its first steps to change to a model where viewers will have to prove they are a pay-TV customer to watch their favorite shows, according to sources.
In fact, the move by Hulu toward the new model — called authentication because viewers would have to log in with their cable or satellite TV account number — was behind the move last week by Providence Equity Partners to cash out of Hulu after five years, these sources said.
Seriously, though — is anyone really surprised? Hulu has sadly come to be owned by News Corp., Disney, and Comcast, so you had to the old dinosaurs would revert back to their old dinosaur tricks sooner or later.
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So they’re becoming HBO GO, where if you have the full HBO subscription you can watch any HBO shows on your iPad, which is nice, but mostly worthless to me.
Anyone who can do it outside the lines will benefit from this move.
And to think, I was just on the verge of signing up for Hulu Plus after I told Comcast some very choice words regarding my current charges.
Well, that’s just silly. I always thought Hulu was a good anti-piracy initiative for people who didn’t have DVRs. I really don’t feel like connecting Hulu Plus with Fios with Facebook with the soul of my firstborn.
Talk about “Get off my lawn” business planning. Classic old media pulling the strings.
This is a great way to give internet piracy a huge boost.
31 million unique views in march…. I suspect MUCH less when this goes through….. It’s not like we weren’t forced to watch the same shitty ads on Hulu as on the networks anyways…..
Oh well, hoist the Jolly Roger Matey’s and show em how it’s REALLY done for free!!!!!
Wow, I just cut the cord this week. Thank god I’m still on the free week trial of Hulu Plus. Interesting business strategy of making your product less attractive to consumers.
We’re going to continue doing things the way we’ve always done them because, dammit, it works!
“Consumers don’t tell us what they want. We tell them what they’re going to get and they better take that and like it.”
-Out of touch media executive
The internet is just a fad that will pass anyway. People will consume TV the same way they did in 1985 and that will never change!
“Remember that thing we do? The entire reason we exist? Fuck it!”
This appears to already be a thing. I went to my hulu plus account area and had the option of “authenticating” my account by logging into either a Dish Network or Verizon account. It said that if I did, I would be able to watch Fox shows just 1 day after they air, instead of 8 days. I don’t have any pay TV service, so I can’t participate.
While an 8 day wait doesn’t bother me, I am concerned that this will open the door to more problems and restrictions. Wondering if I should just preemptively shut my hulu account down.
Oh, great. Way to fight against piracy.