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.
New Parks Associates consumer data finds entertainment services lead the subscription economy for U.S. internet households, including 89% subscribing to a streaming video service, 32% subscribing to a...
During the April NAB Show 2024, Parks Associates said its research found that half of U.S. video-viewing households now watch FAST channels on a regular basis. From the Media Play News article, "FA...
In a recent column on StreamTV Insider, Parks Associates Director Eric Sorensen noted that “telcos are pursuing aggressive options with streaming in order to keep the pay TV business operating for as...
Parks Associates, in partnership with Bango, has released its new white paper Effective Bundling: Pain Points and Expectations from Subscription Leaders, featuring custom primary research of industry...
