Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

Hulu Adds (Mostly) Ad-Free Subscription Service

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. 

Previously In The News

4 Key Business and Lifestyle Trends Transforming Customer Demand

A study from Parks Associates found that “one-third of smart device owners in U.S. broadband households have increased usage of their devices during the COVID-19 pandemic, including 46% of smart door...

DIY Security, Home Automation: What’s a Pro to Do?

One chief reason for the meteoric rise in DIY competition, of course, is market penetration — read: the historical lack thereof. According to the latest Parks Associates research, 75% of U.S. househol...

Study: 73% of Integrators Don’t Offer Cybersecurity Services

Research firm Parks Associates recently found that 79% of U.S. broadband households are concerned about data security or privacy issues, for instance. Meanwhile, the soaring use of the Zoom platform h...

Amazon Details ‘Custom Home Service’ Featuring CEDIA Smart Home Pros

Why are integrators important to Amazon? Quigley calls custom integrators “the new architects” of the smart home. He cites data from Parks Associates that even though 60 percent of consumers say th...