News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch recently spoke in front of an investor group, disclosing his ambitions to turn Hulu into a paid site.
Hulu remains the No. 1 online movie video site, as other competitors have been unable to offer such a wide variety of content. However, the company has had a difficult monetizing its content, even though there are ads already displayed when videos are shown.
Exact details of a possible paid model, including the pricing and launch date, were not revealed by Murdoch during the meeting with investors.
I've greatly enjoyed using the Hulu service, but will be very weary if they roll out a paid subscription plan and pay-per-view content without thinking carefully how it will do so. If pay-per-view is available for live streaming events, that's one thing, but pay-per-view movies -- unless they're extremely cheap -- likely won't get people to avoid watching PPVs on TV.
Hulu continues to look for new ways to draw in advertisers during a rough economy, and offering PPVs and paid monthly subscriptions may help generate revenue until then. It will be interesting to see what content is available for free, as consumers are extremely weary of paying a monthly subscription for video content.
Depending on the content, are you willing to pay for a monthly subscription to Hulu?
