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.
Another study from Parks Associates said almost 75% of consumers who plan to buy a smart home device said it was essential that it connect seamlessly to other products in their home electronics networ...
Mobile payment apps have gotten off to a slow start and there have been conflicting analyses of their market potential. For instance, customer use of digital wallets stalled in the past year because t...
Parks Associates revealed that 27% of U.S. car owners would connected cars to communicate with the Internet-connected devices in their home, such as smart garage door openers and door sensors. Park...
The heyday of outdoor TV antennas or rabbit ears will never return, experts say. But research firms and the National Association of Broadcasters have noticed the uptick in over-the-air TV antenna hous...
