Print 9 comment(s) - last by Adonlude.. on Mar 27 at 4:44 PM








Source: Reuters

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RE: Doesn't seem so complex...IMO.
By Solandri on 3/27/2013 1:51:15 AM , Rating: 2
Since Comcast owns NBC and is such a large media corp. I don't see why this wouldn't be ideal for them to take charge of?

That won't work. See, the problem is the studios want to charge more than the market will bear for their movies and shows. But that's not working when when they're selling directly to the market.

So they want someone else to step in the middle and buy Hulu. Then they can charge the new owners more than the market will bear, and make lots more money. Or at least that's what they think. Why else would they load up a company they own and are trying to sell (presumably for as much money as they can get) with short-term contracts?

Remember, when Hulu first came out, several studios refused to license to Netflix streaming because they thought they could make more money running their own streaming service. And as the content owners, it was their right to do so. That they now want to sell Hulu should tell you something.

I do use HULU regularly for certain programs and will not pay the monthly subscription. I actually prefer their ad methodology (30/60 second ad breaks) and even give them some help in catering to my ad interests.

Since they put ads in even if you pay the monthly fee, I think the service would do just fine if they dropped the monthly fee and let anybody use it. Make their entire revenue based on selling ads. They have a lot of content that's not available elsewhere, especially current TV shows. I think most people would be willing to tolerate the ads just as if they were watching TV (especially in the countries where current stuff takes years before it airs).

I suspect what's happening though is that the regional heads in charge of selling the shows to different countries are vetoing that idea. If the world can watch the shows online a day after it airs in the U.S., that considerably weakens the studio's bargaining position when trying to sell it to broadcasters in another country. They can't comprehend that robbing Peter to pay Paul is ok if Peter and Paul are the same person.

Ultimately, that's the real problem. These dinosaurs running the studios insist on trying to distinguish between shows broadcast on TV and shows broadcast over the Internet. They refuse to believe that technology is rapidly moving to the point where the two the same thing. So they're trying to recreate the broadcast TV model (with all its silly region embargoes) on the Internet, instead of coming up with a new business model which better suits the way the Internet works.


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