Quickly fading from the mobile landscape is the concept of free entertainment, a reality that continues to manifest as a growing number of prominent content providers entertain the notion of charging for content.
The latest name in mobile entertainment to begin charging for some of its content is Hulu. And the new policy could be rolled out as early as January, according to News Corp. Deputy Chairman Chase Carey.
Since its inception, Hulu has thrived as an online streaming video service that has grown to provide a wide range of TV shows and movies at no charge to the public. The service has been supported by paid commercials.
Originally crafted as a competitive response to Apple’s iTunes, Hulu was born of a venture among NBCU, News Corp., and Disney.
Although it appears that some content will remain available for free, it is likely that paid-content will be provided through a premium subscription basis free of the advertisements that, until now, we had no choice but to endure.
According to Mr. Carey, “I think a free model is a very difficult way to capture the value of our content. I think what we need to do is deliver that content to consumers in a way where they will appreciate the value,. Hulu concurs with that, it needs to evolve to have a meaningful subscription model as part of its business.”
