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.
The Walmart Vizio deal comes as competitor Roku has a 25% share of the connected TV market, based on smart TV operating systems in use, according to Parks Associates. Amazon makes up 17% of the market...
“This is a good move by Walmart,” says Elizabeth Parks, president of the market research firm Parks Associates. “It sets the company in a position to compete with Amazon in new ways.” “Walmart isn’...
According to a spokesperson for Parks Associate that Ars Technica spoke with, Vizio has 12 percent of connected TV OS market share. WSJ reported last week that Roku OS has more market share at 25 perc...
Parks Associates data shows that the vast majority - 88% of internet households shop online at least monthly. 62% of respondents shop on a mobile phone and 60% shop on a computer monthly. Parks Ass...
