-->
Save your FREE seat for Streaming Media Connect in November. Register Now!

Hulu Considering Reducing Ads for Subscribers: New York Post

Article Featured Image

Will Hulu cut down on the amount of online video ads its paid Hulu Plus subscribers see? That's the rumor floated in a New York Post article yesterday. Customers now pay $7.99 per month for Hulu Plus, and see a heavy ad load that rivals that of broadcast television.

The Post quotes "an executive close to the company" saying that Hulu and its partners are “always looking at a variety of ways to create the best possible experience for our viewers and advertisers including reducing the ad load.”

That's a pretty flimsy quote to build a story on, but it's gotten the online video industry talking. It's no secret that Hulu is trailing its main competitor, Netflix, by a wide margin, and one reason could be that Netflix customers don't see ads.

The idea that paid subscribers would have to view ads is so surprising that Hulu has a page dedicated to explaining why that is. "Premium content — especially from the current TV season — is not only expensive to make and license, but we also want to compensate our content partners fairly for the valuable entertainment they provide," the page says, adding that the ads -- which it calls "a modest ad load" -- help keep Hulu subscriptions under $8 per month.

Hulu seems to be figuring out that if it has fewer ads, it might have a whole lot more of those eight buck subscriptions.

Streaming Covers
Free
for qualified subscribers
Subscribe Now Current Issue Past Issues
Related Articles

Hulu May Create an Ad-Free Tier, Reports the Wall Street Journal

An ad-free option could let Hulu better compete against Netflix and Amazon Prime, but could also upset Madison Avenue.

Hulu Offers Showtime to Subscribers, at a $2/Month Discount

The SVOD service will subsidize the cost of Showtime subscriptions in the hopes of building its member base and challenging Netflix.

Hulu: 'DASH Is Definitely the Future for Us'

DASH is bringing cost savings to Hulu, and quality of service improvements to its subscribers. No wonder Hulu has plans to bring it to more platforms.

Hulu Plus Surprises with Google Chromecast Integration

The $35 TV streaming device gains an important partner in Hulu, with support ahead of the final SDK release.

Revision3: Why Netflix Will Thrive and Hulu Plus Will Suffer

Two streaming subscription services, two very different futures, predicts a Rev3 exec at Streaming Media West.