No Hulu For You!
Users of Hulu will soon discover that the free lunch is over- No Hulu For You! Hulu, which had over 31 million unique users in March, 2012, under it's free-for-all model of network streaming, is stepping into the abyss as it changes to a model where users will be required to prove they pay for television already in order to watch their favorite shows, according to various news reports, including Fox Business.
This new model of business has one large investor in Hulu, Providence Equity Partners, trying to cash out after five years. Authentication is the new model of business whereby users of Hulu will be required to log in with their cable or satellite television account number.
Currently, Hulu is owned by News Corp., Disney, Comcast, and Providence. It's audience will likely collapse after the authentication takes root. Currently, ComScore measures Hulu's viewer count. Hulu made $420 million in ad revenue last year and is hoping to do well in this year's ad negotiations.
It's likely that your local cable company is literally jumping with joy as the cord-cutting by cable subscribers may slow down. As networks ask cable companies for more retransmission money, perhaps they will now ask for more because cable subscribers will now take a second thought before cutting that cord, forever.
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