Posts Tagged ‘Hulu Plus’

2010 Looks Good For Hulu

Monday, November 29th, 2010

Online Video Site Hulu Announces Huge Expected Revenue For 2010

Company Plans Expansion Of Hulu Plus Subscription Service

Last week online video website Hulu announced that the company expects to earn over $240 million in revenue in 2010, more than double its earnings from the previous year. Looking to position the website as a sort of online perpetual primetime for television advertising, Hulu CEO Jason Kilar spoke at a technology conference in San Francisco, touting Hulu’s improved financial situation. Not long ago, studios like NBC Universal and Walt Disney Co. expressed dissatisfaction with the advertising revenue Hulu was pulling in from its digital video transfers of their programming. Because Hulu’s online programming is free, all of the company’s revenue relied on advertising.

In an effort to add to its revenue and expand its business model, Hulu launched a subscription service called Hulu Plus, offering subscribers more content and more viewing flexibility for $9.99 per month. It is unclear how much this service has contributed to Hulu’s financial gains, especially since subscribership of Hulu Plus remains very low compared to services like cable television and Netflix. However, Hulu Plus will soon be following in Netflix’s footsteps, moving its streaming content away from computers and into living rooms via set top boxes like the Roku XDS, and (rumor has it) videogame consoles such as the Sony Playstation 3. Once viewers have the option of viewing Hulu’s digital video transfers in high quality on their HDTV’s, the popularlity of the Hulu Plus service is bound to grow. The idea is that with a device like a Roku player bringing Netflix content and Hulu Plus content into the living room, viewers will cancel their expensive cable TV plans and pull all their entertainment content from web-based sources.

As a company, Hulu continues to look for ways to grow, and is even considering a public stock offering. Hulu plans a large expansion of Hulu plus to portable devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. If owners of the Apple iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch could access all of their favorite television content wherever they went, Hulu would probably see a wide adoption of the service fairly quickly. To learn more about Hulu or the Hulu Plus subscription service, or if you simply want to watch a free digital video transfer of your favorite TV show, check out www.hulu.com.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Photo Scanning | No Comments »

Hulu Plus: Premium Content, For A Price

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

Hulu Plus: Premium Content, For A Price

Online TV Portal Hulu Offers Subscription Service

Since its public launch in March of 2008, Hulu has become one of the most popular sites on the Web. Designed as an innovative way to deliver TV and film content on demand, via professional video transfers streamed over the Internet to PCs and other web-connected devices, Hulu has helped steer millions of viewers away from illegal downloads by providing a free and easy way to watch TV online. A joint venture of NBC Universal, Fox (News Corp.), and ABC (Disney), Hulu has enjoyed the financial backing and moral support of the some of the biggest names in the business, all eager to curb video piracy and take advantage of Americans’ increasing tendency to look to the Internet, and not the TV, for entertainment.

Hulu’s advertising-based revenue model has been successful (the company expects to top $100 million in revenue by the end of the summer), but it just cannot generate the kind of revenue that its big-name content providers are used to receiving from more traditional outlets such as network television commercials, and licensing fees from cable and satellite companies. At an industry conference in October of last year, News Corporation Deputy Chairman Chase Carey said that Hulu “needs to evolve to have a meaningful subscription model as part of its business.”

After months of rumors, that subscription service is finally here. For $9.99 per month, Hulu Plus offers viewers a more comprehensive online TV and film portal, with more choices and premium content. Hulu’s free service will still be available on the website for anyone who wants to watch a professional video transfer of the most recent episodes of hit shows like “Glee” or “House.” But if you want to watch the entire season from the beginning, a Hulu Plus subscription gives you the freedom to watch archived episodes and even whole series that are not available as part of Hulu’s free service.

Hulu has already developed applications what will allow subscribers to watch their premium content on a variety of devices, include Apple’s iPhone and iPad, Sony’s Playstation 3, and Microsoft’s Xbox 360. For more information, visit http://www.hulu.com/plus.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Photo Scanning | 2 Comments »