Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins chalked up the exceptions to rights held by studios on select series. “They have other commitments that they couldn’t free them up for a complete commercial-free offering,” he said, adding that the service will clearly delineate the exceptions to users before they stream those series.
Other series that will have pre-roll include four ABC series: “How to Get Away with Murder,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Once Upon a Time,” “Agents of SHIELD,” and an NBC series, “Grimm.”
Hulu is making the move in response to subscriber complaints voiced in various forms of consumer research about having to pay yet still watch ads. Earlier this month, a Parks Associates survey found that half of Hulu subscribers have canceled service over the past 12 months, compared to just 9% for Netflix over the same span.
The new subscription option brings Hulu in line with its commercial-free rivals Netflix, which remains several dollars cheaper than Hulu depending on which rate its own subscribers pay, and Amazon Prime, which charges $99 per year for access to its content library in addition to free two-day shipping.
From the article "Hulu Adds (Mostly) Ad-Free Subscription Service" by Andrew Wallenstein.
MUMBAI: Usage of authenticated video viewing, or TV Everywhere, reached 40% of US pay-TV consumers in 2015, up from 22% in 2013, according to new research from Parks Associates. The percentage of r...
“With this partnership, we can deliver more relevant messages to Roku consumers for products and services that interest them,”said Kern Schireson, Viacom’s executive vice president of data strategy an...
More people are buying smart home devices, and connecting them through platforms or systems like smart speakers and hubs. So says a new report from Parks Associates which found that 35 percent of smar...
Most people buy smart blinds, lights and thermostats physical stores today, looking for a bit of handholding with their smart home purchase. But that could change over time as consumers expectations g...
