Tag: Hulu

December Online Video Rankings: Google Sites Reign Supreme

comScore has just released their December 2011 U.S. Online Video Rankings, and it comes as no surprise that Google sites, led primarily by YouTube, took the crown.

U.S. internet denizens watched a lot of online video in December – 23.2 hours per viewer. Throughout the entire month, a total of 182 million users watched a whopping 43.5 billion videos.

As far as unique viewers go, Google sites led the charge nearly tripling up the next closest competitor, VEVO. Google claimed 157.2 million unique viewers who watched 21.9 billion videos in December. Google sites also held high viewer engagement with about 7.9 hours of watching per user.

Hulu, who finished in 8th place in terms of unique viewers with 31.2 million, also had impressive engagement. Hulu users spent a little over 3 hours on average watching videos on the site.

Americans also viewed a total of 7.2 billion ads last month, spanning 3 billion minutes. These video ads accounted for 14.1% of all the online videos viewed in the month of December. Hulu was tops in terms of video ad impressions with around 1.5 billion. They were closely followed by adapt.tv with 1.1 billion and Tremor Video with 900 million.

Finally, VEVO is still the top YouTube partner with 53.5 million viewers. They also had the highest engagement numbers with 66.9 minutes per viewer over the course of the month.

A couple of bonus figures: 85.3% of the entire U.S. internet community viewed online videos. The length of those online videos averaged out to 5.8 minutes, and the average ad was only 24 seconds long.

January 17, 2012
Hulu To Debut Two Original Shows, Bring Back “A Day In The Life”

It would appear that Hulu is trumping Netflix in the original programming department, giving consumers more of a reason to use their service.

Netflix announced earlier this month that it would be launching a new show called Lilyhammer in February. This is the second exclusive show for Netflix, though it will actually premiere ahead of the first (House of Cards).

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Hulu will “roll out two new shows between now and summer, while bringing back a third it debuted last year. The new shows include a half-hour scripted comedy about a dysfunctional Senate campaign, dubbed ‘Battleground,’ beginning in February, and a travelogue show from director Richard Linklater.”

The other show would be the Morgan Spurlock vehicle “A Day in the Life,” which will reportedly return in March.

Hulu recently announced it would be investing half a billion dollars in content for 2012. The service has grown significantly in the past year, having hit $420 million in revenue.

It’s probably fair to say that we’re only going to see more and more original programming coming to the web’s major online video providers (including YouTube).

It’s clear that a lot of people (who haven’t done so already) are about ready to “cut the cord” from their cable companies, and offerings like these will only give them less dependence on cable and satellite providers.

January 16, 2012
Hulu Is A Big Deal And They’re Getting Bigger

Hulu had a big year in 2011 and they want everybody to know.

Hulu posted the results of last year on their blog while offering some hints on what the future will hold for the online television streaming service.

Hulu has grown to be a big boy with a 60 percent increase from last year. They approximately made $420 million in revenue. They are especially proud of their growth in spite of a slow economy in the latter half of 2011. Along those lines, their ad business grew along with their Hulu Plus business.

Speaking of Hulu Plus, the service now boasts 1.5 million paying subscribers. The number continues to grow at a fast clip. They boast that they reached 1.5 million subscribers faster than any other video subscription service. They are also attracting two times the number of subscribers each day compared to last year. They also expect Hulu Plus to make up half of their overall business later this year.

In 2011, Hulu expanded the content available to their customers by quite a lot. Their content offering grew 40 percent over last year. Their Hulu Plus content grew by an astounding 105 percent. They also boast that Hulu Plus is the only online video subscription service that offers current season content from five out of the 6 largest U.S. broadcast networks.

The company introduced apps last year that allowed users to access the service from a variety of devices including the Xbox 360, Kindle Fire, NOOK tablet, Android smartphones, LG, Panasonic and Vizio TVs and Blu-ray players.

The Hulu advertising service led the online advertising market last year with the largest market share. They have served over 1,000 brand advertisers. They also claim to have the most effective video advertising with tools that allow users to decide what ads they see.

These figures as well as having just launched in Japan leave the company feeling pretty giddy. They are being somewhat mum though on what the future holds. They do offer their conviction that digital is the future of television and video content. They also claim that due to their dual revenue stream with Hulu Plus, they are able to pay content providers 50 percent more in licensing fees. They believe this will help them secure more content in 2012. To that end, the company announced that they are investing half a billion dollars in content for 2012.

Are you a Hulu fan? Are you excited about their investment plan for 2012? Let us know in the comments.

January 13, 2012
Thinking Of Canceling Your Cable In 2012? You’re Not Alone

Were you one of the cable subscribers that “cut the cord” last year? Despite the disturbing umbilical metaphor, it’s actually a growing trend in the United States as more people are canceling their subscription to cable because, as everybody knows, you can watch it all online either for a lot less moolah or, heaven forbid, for free.

Were you one of the subscribers that pulled the plug on your cable this past year? Tell us what prompted your decision in the comments below.

Whether you already dumped your cable company or are entertaining the notion of doing so later this year, you’re a part of a constituency that is increasingly finding the notion of life without cable to be an attractive reality. Deliotte, an accountancy firm that follows business trends in media, released the results of their sixth State of the Media Democracy earlier this week and it doesn’t forecast sunnier skies for cable companies in 2012. According to the press release:

A number of Americans have already cut, or are exploring cutting their pay TV connection entirely. Deloitte’s survey found that 9 percent of people have already cut the cord and 11 percent are considering doing so because they can watch almost all of their favorite shows online. An additional 15 percent of respondents said that they will most likely watch movies, television programs, and videos from online digital sources (via download or streamed over the Internet) in the near future.

Moreover, the number of people citing streaming delivery of a movie to their computer or television as their favorite way of watching a movie rose to 14 percent from 4 percent in 2009.

Are you paying attention, cable companies? As much as one-fifth of your cable subscribers could possibly abandon your pricey ships by the end of this year in order to swim ashore the more agreeable environs of the Internet where, presumably, they aren’t going to be bilked for egregious amounts of money.

It gets worse for cable companies as the study says that 42% of Americans reported streaming a movie, as opposed to 28% in 2009. People are catching on to this Internet thing but, amazingly, there still may be hope for cable companies. The survey continues:

“Consumers have shown that they value DVR functionality, yet the majority of Americans don’t have a DVR in the home. This represents a potential opportunity for cable and satellite TV providers,” said said Phil Asmundson, vice chairman and U.S. media & telecommunications sector leader, Deloitte LLP. “In a world where consumers have other ways to access content, the DVR may be an underutilized service that could serve as a value-add for new and existing subscribers at minimal cost to cable and satellite TV companies.”

In fact, 44% of those surveyed have DVR technologies but the question is: will cable companies actually try to capitalize on the opportunity mentioned here by Asmundson? Probably not, as so far they have generally just tried to limit Internet access or pass off their financial short-comings to the consumers that keep them relevant.

Add to the mix that Americans are currently in the throes of a heated love affair with their smartphones, which is another means for people to watch videos via Internet.

The number of households owning smartphones jumped to 42 percent in 2011 from 25 percent in 2009. Furthermore, the number of consumers interested in purchasing a smartphone in the near future increased to 52 percent in 2011 from 40 percent in 2010.

Throw the surging tablet market into the media mix and – I enjoy saying this every time – cable companies look like they might be on the ropes.

So does anybody think that cable companies have a future? Have any of you cancelled your cable subscriptions this past year or, better yet, are deliberating toward the decision to “cut the cord” this year? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.

January 8, 2012
Is Netflix Weathering The Storm?

Netflix did everything they could in 2011 to piss people off. First, they messed with the subscription structures in a way that separated streaming and DVD plans into two equally priced entities (DVD used to be a cheap add-on to streaming). This, of course, turned out to be a price hike for users who wanted to keep both services – so many of them decided not to.

Netflix added new content to Netflix Instant this year, but also lost a key deal with Starz, which means the Netflix will lose important new releases from Disney and Sony.

And then there was the whole Qwikster mess, you remember, right? That’s the time when Reed Hastings thought it was a good idea to split Netflix’s streaming services and their DVD serives into two entirely separate companies. If you recall, that went over ~~really well~~ terribly.

Netflix’s Q3 earnings report showed that although posting record revenue, Netflix did in fact lose some subscribers as a result of these moves (as they predicted they would). Actually, they lost a lot of subscribers – about 800,000 to be exact.

Some users left Netflix all together, and some just dropped one of the services. It’s no secret that Netflix is trying to move away from physical DVD rentals – so subscriber loss in that department is really part of the plan.

New research by Citigroup suggests that Netflix might be weathering the storm.

As you can see, Netflix subscribers in May reported being “extremely satisfied” with the service at a much higher rate than respondents in December. But December saw an increase in people saying they were “very satisfied” and “moderately satisfied.” All in all, 91% in December said that they were at least moderately satisfied with Netflix, down only 1% from the 92% that answered that way back in May.

Netflix subscribers that stuck around might not be as ecstatic as they were back in May, but it doesn’t look they they are too unhappy to stay.

Here’s another chart from the survey, showing Netflix compared to other streaming video sources:

Not only has Netflix increased its reach in the online video sphere, but most of the others remain stagnant. Folks saying that they watched streaming video on Hulu dipped 4% from May.

Netflix has said that they fully expect to lose more subscribers. Can competitors actually close the gap? Or is Netflix going to weather the storm? Let us know in the comments.

December 22, 2011
Hulu Lets You ID Obscure Actors With Face Match

You know that annoying moment when you’re watching a TV show and an actor comes across the screen that you just can’t place? You know his name, it’s on the tip of your tongue – and you know that was that guy in that one movie…gaaaahhh…the frustration is sometimes too much to bear.

Hulu thinks they have a solution for you, and they are calling it Face Match. It allows viewers to instantly learn about the actors on their favorite TV shows and movies, by simply hovering over their faces with their mouse.

All you have to do is hover over that obscure actor’s face and Hulu will pause the video and bring up a box with the actor’s name and some information about them. Right now, the info is brief and links to a larger Wikipedia entry.

To use Face Match, select the config button in the lower right corner of the video player while watching any show or clip. If Hulu Face Match is available for the video you’re watching, there will be an option to turn the feature on. You can also modify your default setting for Hulu Face Match on your personal settings page.

Remember when using Face Match, it might not be perfect – it’s still in Hulu Labs.

Currently, the Hulu content that supports Face Match includes all episodes of Glee, The Office, Wilfred, Modern Family, and Lost.

Try it out below on this episode of Modern Family:

[Note: This writer would never refer to Terry O’Quinn as obscure. How could we ever forget his masterful work in The X-Files: Fight The Future]

December 8, 2011
Netflix, Hulu Users: Usage-Based Internet Is On The Way… Or Not?

The Internet sky is falling, says the Internet. But that isn’t exactly true. Not yet, at least.

An analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in New York, Craig Moffett, was quoted in Bloomberg yesterday for predicting that at least one of the major cable operators, probably Comcast Communications or Time Warner Cable, will initiate a usage-based payment scale next year for Internet-loving customers. He anticipates the change in billing plans due to the growing number of Internet users watching more and more movies through services like Netflix and Hulu. As more cable subscribers cancel their service and defect to watching videos online, cable companies are looking for ways to minimize the attrition of customers. Through a usage-based service plan, all of those Netflix and Hulu flicks you’ve been watching online will start to be reflected in higher bills if you watch enough of them.

But don’t go updating your Netflix plan to resume receiving DVDs via mail just yet.

One, this pot has boiled once before. Time Warner had a go at testing “Consumer Based Billing” in 2009 but nixed the plan after the public made it patently clear that they disliked this idea. In their statement after the fall-out, Time Warner stated “that it is working to make measurement tools available as quickly as possible. These tools will help customers understand how much bandwidth they consume and aid in the dialog going forward.”

Yeah, because customers can’t wait to pay more to use the Internet just to find out how much bandwidth they consumed while plowing through the final three seasons of Lost.

Ultimately, it’s likely this strategy from the cable companies will be regarded as an attempt to wrest back their subscribers that have migrated to the Internet in search of their viewing pleasures. In an editorial he wrote for the Wall Street Journal earlier this year, Netflix General Counsel David Hyman said changing to usage-based billing services “is bad news for consumers and threatens to slow down the innovation powering today’s Internet economy.” Added to that, consumers have grown accustomed to free Internet since… well, since the Internet. An effort from cable companies to apply a limit on how much customers can use the Internet based on how much they pay – even if those customers could technically afford it – is likely to go over about as well as the last time a company tried this.

Despite the gloomy prediction that our land of Internet-y milk and honey may soon come to an end, the Bloomberg piece did conclude with a spell of optimism:

Cable’s best option is to find ways to profit from the online shift, said Moffett. If the companies were to lose all of their video customers, the revenue decline would be more than offset by a lower programming fees and set-top box spending, he said.

“In the end, it will be the best thing that ever happened to the cable industry,” Moffett said.

So tell us: would you be willing to pay for your Internet use based on your amount of usage?

December 1, 2011
comScore Releases U.S. Online Video Rankings for October 2011

Data from the comScore Video Matrix were released today, showing that 184 million U.S. Internet users watched online video content in October for an average of 21.1 hours per viewer. The research company announced that the total U.S. Internet audience viewed 42.6 billion video, which represents an all-time high.

Google Sites was powered by everybody’s go-to for all things online video, YouTube, to claim the highest ranking with 161 million unique viewers and reached a record high of 20.9 billion videos viewed. Facebook came in at a distant second rank with 59.8 million viewers and the bronze ranking went to VEVO with 57 million. Microsoft Sites and Viacom Digital followed with 49.1 million and 48.2 million, respectively.

With more than 42 billion videos viewed during the month, the firm reports that the average viewer watched a record 21.1 hours. Since comScore defines the average online video time as 5.5 minutes, that works out to roughly about 229 videos per user. That’s a lot of cat videos people watched last month.

As far as video ads go, Americans watched 7.5 billion ads in October, which totaled more than 3 billion minutes. Hulu generated the highest number of video ad impressions at more than 1.3 billion. Tremor Video ranked second overall and crossed the milestone of 1 billion ads viewed for the first time. BrightRoll Video Network ranked third with 756 million ads, followed by Specific Media with 512 million and CBS Interactive with 415 million.

comScore also ranked Youtube Partner Channels in October, revealing that VEVO entertained 54.2 million viewers to capture first place. Warner Music maintained the second-place rank with 30.4 million viewers. Gaming channel Machinima ranked third with 17.7 million viewers followed by Schmooru with 9.9 million viewers.

November 29, 2011
The Criterion Collection Comes To iTunes

Among cinephiles, The Criterion Collection is pretty much a holy organization. Established in 1984, the folks at Criterion’s goal has been to gather the world’s best and most important films from all over the world and distribute them in the highest possible quality. Criterion is oftentimes able to bring to life forgotten classics and films that have fallen off even the most ardent film-lover’s radar.

And now, as Very Aware has noticed, the Criterion Collection has made a very quiet debut on iTunes. Very quiet in that there’s been no big announcement and their Twitter and Facebook pages are bereft of even the smallest promotion.

The Criterion selection now available on iTunes is nowhere near the full collection, in fact there are barely over forty individual films available. But they have included some absolute must-sees like Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless, John Ford’s Stagecoach, Kurosawa’s Yojimbo and Marcel Camus’ Black Orpheus.

The Criterion Collection is known to be a bit pricey – as the DVD’s and Blu-Rays can run anywhere from $25 to $40 – even more in rare circumstances. But here, the prices are quite reasonable, especially in comparison to other movies on iTunes. Most of the Criterion films are $2.99 to rent and $14.99 to buy. By comparison, it’s $14.99 to buy the new release Crazy, Stupid Love (starring Steve Carrell) and $3.99 to rent it.

That price point on purchases is especially tempting, considering that the same films on physical DVD would be much more expensive. You could build a nice little collection of classic Criterion films on your iPad for (relatively) cheap.

Of course, the iTunes selection is nowhere near the selection offered on Hulu. There, hundreds of Criterion films are available for a $7.99 a month subscription.

The lack of fanfare regarding this move is a bit surprising, but maybe it’s because of the fairly soft opening of 46 films. I’m sure that Criterion will add plenty more of its collection to the Apple marketplace. Another disappointing thing about the iTunes launch is the lack of special features – something that makes Criterion films special. As Very Aware points out, Criterion could utilize the iTunes extra feature in the future to bring some of that extra content to its films.

In other Criterion Collection news, they have been vocal about the fact that it’s Criterion days at Barnes & Noble. Every year, you can snatch up their films for 50% off both online and in-stores for a limited time.

The more and more I look at this, the more and more I’m tempted to snatch up Hoop Dreams for my iPad for permanent in-flight entertainment.

November 8, 2011
Hulu Plus On Its Way To Wii And Nintendo 3DS

Hulu announced that Hulu Plus will soon be coming to the Nintendo Wii and 3DS systems. In a blog post, Hulu writes:

We are working hard to make sure you can get Hulu Plus on every internet-connected video screen in your life. And we are actively teaming up with some of the largest platform partners in the world to make this ambitious goal a reality. Soon, Hulu Plus users will have one more way to watch popular TV shows and award-winning movies anytime and anywhere because Nintendo today announced that Hulu Plus is coming soon to Wii and Nintendo 3DS.

Nintendo has entertained millions of families for many years. With devices like the Wii and Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo has earned diehard fans and loyal customers through the Company’s innovative approach to entertainment. Now together, we’re going to bring a new level of world class entertainment right into your hands and home. For less than 8 dollars per month, you’ll be able to enjoy the entire current season of popular shows like Dancing with the Stars, Modern Family andGlee in addition to a huge library of classic TV shows and award winning movies. Whether you’re at home or on-the-go, Hulu Plus on your Wii and Nintendo 3DS will provide thousands of TV episodes and hundreds of movies whenever and wherever you want.

Here’s a comparison of what Hulu Plus offers vs. regular Hulu:

Other gaming consoles Hulu Plus is currently available for include Xbox360 and Sony Playstation 3. The entire device list can be found here.

Hulu says it will soon have more details about the Wii and 3DS launch.

October 21, 2011
Hulu No Longer for Sale

There has been a lot of talk about who will be buying Hulu, and Google has been repeatedly named as a possibility for the one who would get it. It would, after all, fall in line with Google’s strategy of acquiring more high quality content for YouTube.

It appears, however, that Hulu is no longer for sale, at least for the time being. Apparently, they couldn’t find a buyer willing to pay a price they were comfortable with.

A joint statement has come out from Hulu owners News Corp., Providence Equity Partners, The Walt Disney Company and the Hulu Senior Management team:

“Since Hulu holds a unique and compelling strategic value to each of its owners, we have terminated the sale process and look forward to working together to continue mapping out its path to even greater success. Our focus now rests solely on ensuring that our efforts as owners contribute in a meaningful way to the exciting future that lies ahead for Hulu.”

According to data previously released by comScore, Hulu dominates the video ad market.

Last year, Hulu planned an IPO, but backed out. It will be interesting to see the direction Hulu goes in following this news.

October 14, 2011
Who Will Acquire Hulu? Google, DISH & Amazon Reportedly Frontrunners

Google has been mentioned as a possible suitor for a Hulu acquisition for a while now. In light of recent developments, it would still make sense.

For example, recent reports indicate that Google is spending about $100 million to develop new, original content. Google is serious about making YouTube a cable competitor (let’s hope they don’t’ start charging for YouTube in general). YouTube is expected to get a redesign with a more TV channel-like flavor. They’ve recently expanded their paid movie offerings, to include new releases, and continue to expand that offering internationally.

TV and movie content from Hulu makes sense.

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Google (along with DISH and Amazon) are still in the running for an acquisition of Hulu, and Yahoo, which has been in the running, is now out.

The Yahoo news is interesting in itself, given a couple of things:

1. Yahoo is been doing a lot to brand itself as a media company as of late.

2. Other rumors are going around that Microsoft is considering a bid for Yahoo, which still doesn’t have a CEO, beyond interim CEO Tim Morse.

As a media company, it could do Yahoo well to have what Hulu has to offer, but perhaps the future of Yahoo itself is just too uncertain.

While a Hulu acquisition would make a great deal of sense for Google, it would also make a great deal of sense for DISH or Amazon, both of which have scaled up their streaming video offerings of late.

October 10, 2011
What Happens When Hulu Gets Acquired?

Rumors about a potential Hulu acquisition have been running rampant. According to reports, Amazon, Dish, Google and Yahoo have bid or are close to bidding, and DirecTV is also reportedly considering submitting a bid. Valuations have ranged from $500 million to $2 billion.

Mike Sullivan, CEO of online video ad targeting platform Affine shared some thoughts on the potential impact of a Hulu acquisition on the online video industry.

“Currently, Amazon, Dish, Google, and Yahoo! are all in the running to purchase Hulu, but the implications for the online video industry vary greatly depending on who acquires the company,” he tells WebProNews. “These are four very different companies with four very different value propositions. For example, a Yahoo! buy would give Hulu the potential of remaining a premium content play with the addition of the Yahoo! sales team, while a Google buy would put strong technology behind Hulu and strengthen Google’s current on demand movie service. If Dish acquires Hulu it will probably discontinue current Hulu distribution channels like Hulu plus, but otherwise, Hulu has the potential of remaining the same. An Amazon acquisition wouldn’t change the online video space as much because they don’t yet have a viable ad platform. Across the board, a Hulu acquisition really only makes sense if Hulu’s license portfolio can be maintained.”

“Amazon would be a natural fit to acquire Hulu since it has started to compete with Apple on content distribution,” he adds. “TV and DVD sales are dropping and Amazon is currently confined to shipping products. A long-term content distribution mechanism would make a lot of sense. Amazon could also have a little more leverage with content providers as they already sell a lot of their content in traditional formats. Google, however, has the ability to spend lots of money towards the eventual discovery of a sustainable business model.”

A recent report from comScore found that Hulu is dominating in video ads.

“Hulu’s advertising is successful because it has great, highly produced content and maintains backing from major TV networks and production companies,” says Sullivan. “Hulu’s advertising is also successful because it’s included as an easy add-on to traditional campaigns. Media buyers know how to buy premium content from TV networks, and the TV networks know how to siphon off spend for Hulu advertising. For example, ABC may package a media buy to include a $20 million spot on ABC and another $1-2 million for impressions on Hulu. The media buyers are happy because they are advertising on a new, exciting online video channel but are only advertising on premium content.”

“Overall, a possible acquisition could result in a loss of distribution mechanisms and a possible fee increase for premium content,” says Sullivan. “Google lacks traction with Google TV but certainly has the cash to create a large TV sales team around their offering. An acquisition by Dish would be interesting as web-based consumer technology isn’t really in their DNA. They may struggle to find a viable business model the most of the aforementioned companies.”

Severing ties with co-owners Comcast, Disney, and Fox would likely result in a loss of available video content. “Severing these ties will result in massive loss of video content unless the acquirer can pay the increased premiums for the content. Of the companies in the running, only a few have the money available to buy the premium content at higher price. In addition to the higher price, all of the potential buyers will need to find a business model that can justify the price.”

On how Hulu’s competition with video streaming giant Netflix would be affected by the acquisition, Sullivan says, “Hulu is safe at the moment because it can provide recently run TV content while Netflix content tends to lag the current season. A Hulu acquisition by Amazon could help Amazon compete more directly with Netflix and Apple’s iTunes. Nobody views Google as a Netflix threat, though the number of hours of online video (YouTube) being watched is increasing dramatically. Dish is far more interested in competing with DirectTV then they are Netflix. Netflix remains device agnostic with many of their monthly streams going through game consoles whereas Dish’s business model revolves around consumers interacting with their own set-top-box.”

In other Hulu-related news, they officially launched a subscription service in Japan today, marking the first international expansion for the company.

September 1, 2011
Hulu Dominates Video Ads, Google Said to Be a Suitor

86% of the U.S. Internet audience viewed online video in July, according to new findings from comScore, who also reports that the duration of the average online video was 5.3 minutes. The average online video ad was half a minute.

In fact, video ads accounted for 12.4% of all videos viewed and 1.2% of all minutes spent viewing video online in July, the firm says.

If you watch Hulu much, you probably won’t be surprised to learn that it led the charge in the ad department. comScore reports that Americans viewed over 5.3 billion video ads in July, with Hulu generating the highest number of video ad impressions at 963 million. Adap.tv came in second (1st among video ad exchanges/networks) with 674 million ad views.

Time spent watching video ads totaled more than 2.4 billion minutes during the month, with Hulu delivering the highest duration of video ads at 409 million minutes, comScore reports. Video ads reached 49% of the total U.S. population an average of 35.9 times during the month. Hulu delivered the highest frequency of video ads with an average of 40.4 over the course of the month.

Rumor going around the tech blogosphere today is that Google is in the running for a possible acquisition of Hulu, and according to the Wall Street Journal, should be considered a frontrunner (along with Amazon). The publication notes that Google has been trying to get more premium content for YouTube. Meanwhile, Eric Schmidt is expected to tell broadcasters that it needs them.

Interesting. Google has certainly not been shy about acquisitions lately. We’ll see.

TorrentFreak is reporting that a recent decision by FOX to delay the online availability of its shows (on Hulu, as well as Fox.com) by 8 days has led to an increase in piracy.

Google sites still dominate unique viewers in terms of video content properties. comScore has them with 158,073 in July, compared to Hulu’s 24,368.

August 22, 2011
Netflix, Hulu Users Streaming Video in Vastly Different Ways

There is a fundamental distinction between Netflix users and Hulu users, and it goes far beyond who has more allegiance to 30 Rock.

Netflix and Hulu users differ greatly in both how they stream their content and what content they are streaming.

Nielsen conducted a survey and found that 89% of Hulu users report streaming their video directly to their computers. Only 42% of Netflix users said that this is how they watch stuff. Of that 89% of computer-streaming Hulu users, only 20% said that they connect their computers to their TVs.

The majority of Netflix videos are being enjoyed on people’s televisions. Whether that be through the Wii, Xbox360 and PS3 consoles or internet-enabled devices like Roku and Blu-Ray players, chances are good that if you’re streaming Netflix, you’re taking it in on a bigger screen.

One of the most surprising figures to me is the Hulu/Xbox Live stat. Of the 12,000 people that Nielsen asked, only 2% stream Hulu via their Xbox360s? That’s only shocking to me because I remember how excited people were when Hulu announced it was coming to the Microsoft console.

Nielsen also looked at what users are watching on each service. 53% of Netflix users are watching movies while only 11% say they exclusively watch TV shows. 36% said they watch both equally.

When it comes to Hulu, a whopping 73% said that they primarily view TV shows on the service and only 9% said that they primarily view movies. 18% said that they watch both equally.

Does this some something to do with the people? Probably not, as it most likely has more to do with the catalogs. The recent Netflix price hike outrage might cause a significant number of members to say goodbye to their subscriptions, but would they give their money to Hulu Plus instead? It sure seems that at least right now, the two services aren’t competing with each other for the same type of content and user.

July 31, 2011
Netflix Backlash Explodes On Facebook

The upcoming Netflix price increases has the Internet in an absolute tizzy. Their blog post announcing the upcoming price hikes quickly filled up with the 5000 comment limit, and although every comment wasn’t sifted through, the word “backlash” is absolutely fitting. In fact, for those who don’t want to see a price increase for the combination of streaming and DVD rentals, jumping ship to other services is a definite possibility.

While the management of Netflix has remained largely silent in regards to the discontent, the fires of rebellion are being stoked left and right across social networks; however, the epicenter for the anti-price hike rage is Facebook. Granted, some consider the complaints to be a classic example of First World Problems, but that hasn’t stopped many Netflix users from running to Facebook to air their grievances.

For example, on Netflix’s Facebook page, the post that mentions the upcoming price hikes was greeted with over 36,000 responses, and again, although this is a complete guess, I’d wager over 95% of the responses were filled with disgust.

Not only do the comments question Netflix’s motivations, they also indicate a move away from Netflix maybe upcoming. Some examples of Facebook’s rage against Netflix’s machine, with all the [sic]s left intact:

Jonas Valdez
Netflix – I am officially flixing my middle finger at you. You can shove it where sun doesn’t shine. You make people get DVD’s because YOU don’t offer all of it via streaming. A 60% price increase? YOU ARE INSANE AND STUPID. Greediness… is going to be your downfall. I will be cancelling immediately and moving on to the multitude of other choices that I have. Asking millions of customers to bend over is pure stupidity. We are the ones that PAY YOU IDIOTS!!!!

Jonathan Sheetz
I wouldn’t have minded paying a bit more for both if a bundle was offered, but charging the default price for both services is a bit ridiculous. Looks like I’ll be hitting up redbox and the library for dvd’s from now on.

Johnny Christensen
Netflixs took alot of jobs away. (blockbuster,Hollywood video) Thank god Blockbuster made it. Cuz we are going back.

Patrick Sugarman
Cancelling August 31st.

Ralph Hassel
Greedy cash grab. Goodbye netflix.

Jeffrey Scott
The biggest danger to Netflix? Their own greed. I thought they had the market, but they just kicked themselves out!

Franklin Buskirk
I think my real problem with what they’re doing here is that they’ve got two lopsided services. On one hand, you’ve got the physical discs which you have to wait 30 days for most new releases, don’t always get the movie you want, and you c…an only get up to 10 movies a month with the single-disc-out plan assuming you have time to watch it when you get it and mail it the next day. Then you have the instant which has pretty much no new releases and is nowhere near as expansive as the disc collection. So you either pay for one crippled service or another. When it was streaming as a perk, that was amazing, when streaming cost a couple dollars extra, that was still great, when I have to choose one or the other or pay way too much for both, that is not great. That comes out to about $190 a year. Amazon Prime only costs $80 a year and is free for students and mothers.

Ad infinitum.

Wall complaints on Netflix’s page weren’t the only actions taken by the Facebook crowd. Some Facebook users who were apparently heartbroken by the price hike news created pages, asking other Facebook users to abandon Netflix. One of them is called “1,000,000 people who will not stand for Netflix’s new prices,” while the another one is a little more too the point, saying, “Fuck you, Netflix.”

Unfortunately for these pages, the viral effect seems to have passed them by. The 1 million people page has under 2000 members, while the more direct page has only 60 members.

The question is, with so much negativity surrounding the Netflix price hikes, is there another service ready to step and claim the disgruntled Netflix members? Considering their entire business strategy is based entirely on e-commerce, is there another company with the infrastructure in place to serve the needs of potential Netflix refugees? Will Hulu want to offer more than streaming content? Will the husk of Blockbuster — now owned by Dish Network — make another run at Internet rentals, or is streaming movies the wave of their future?

Or, like someone suggested on Netflix’s wall, is the time ripe for a brick-and-mortar rental service to step into the widening hole that was created by Netflix’s desire to make more money? Are we now entering the era of Redbox?

July 13, 2011
Netflix Raises Prices, What’s Next For Users?

Today, Netflix dropped the bomb that it was doing away with its unlimited streaming / DVD combo plan in favor of separate plans for each service. Users (myself included) that want unlimited streaming options as well as 1-DVD-at-a-time rental enjoy a $9.99 a month plan at the time. Soon, that option won’t exist.

Moving forward, Netflix users will have the option of a $7.99 unlimited streaming service. instead of paying $2 extra for the one-at-a-time unlimited DVD service, users will now have to pay another $7.99 a month for that. This basically means that the $9.99 service was just increased about 60% to $15.98 a month.

If I had to sum up the initial reaction to this announcement in a few words, I think I might use “aw hell no.” Maybe just the world “indignant.”

What will Netflix users do now? The twitterverse is sounding off, and I will use varying tweets to discuss possible outcomes of this new pricing structure.

First, will users jump ship from Netflix to other content providers? Will Redbox, Hulu, and even cable companies benefit from the Netflix backlash?

@hayofray
Jeffrey ThomasSo wait, I pay @netflix $6 more per month starting September 1? Hello, @redbox, it’s nice to meet you & you live only a block from my house. 25 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

@nmuldoon
Nicholas Muldoon@wikiwikichowski Yea, I honestly am thinking of doing so as well, specially now that Hulu is on Xbox as well, no reason to stay with Netflix 24 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

@stevenjayl
Steven LevyBasically, Netflix is handing cable co’s a huge gift, as its subscribers may bolt and buy on-demand from cable. 44 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

Let’s break this down. Redbox: I get it. No commitment, $1 rentals. Roughly sixteen films from Redbox in one month would equate to the new streaming & DVD Netflix subscription. Users will have to determine whether or not thy can continue to extract enough value out of Netflix to justify the increased cost. Both Netflix and Redbox, however, have deals in place with most studios that make them wait a month before distributing new releases.

As far as Hulu goes, their streaming service is also $7.99 per month. Like Netflix, it too is available on Xbox360. Switching from one to the other doesn’t seem like it’s doing anything except changing the specific content you have access to.

The argument that cable companies will benefit from this pricing shift is one that fails to make sense to me. Using a cable provider’s on-demand service, rentals can run anywhere from $3 to $8 depending on whether or not it is in HD. Rent two or three of those and you are well over $16 for the month. Plus, subscription services like HBO and Showtime aren’t cheap either. The only draw I can see is that on-demand tends to make new releases available earlier than Netflix.

Will users make a choice and simply drop their streaming or DVD plans?

@UncleGramps
UncleGrampsOkay, Netflix, I guess I won’t be getting DVDs or Blu-rays from you anymore. I’ll go streaming only if that’s how you wanna do this. 36 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

@chrisneetch
NeetchI guess since I’ve had my most recent Netflix DVD rental since February I could probably do without the DVD plan. Streaming only for me! 38 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

If users choose to drop either DVD or streaming, then their Netflix bill will actually be a little cheaper than before (considering they had both services to begin with).

But of course the streaming and DVD parts of Netflix are yin & yang, peanut butter & jelly. Streaming provides users with content instantly while the DVDs provide users with the content that isn’t offered via instant streaming.

To assuage the angry masses, Netflix should make a few more deals in the coming months to bring more content to streaming. That might help some people cope with the subscription changes.

Is the price increase really that big of a deal?

@BenKuchera
BenKucheraIf an extra $6 a month for streaming and DVDs from Netflix affects your budget in the slightest way you’re doing something terribly wrong. 59 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

Suck it up, you whiners. That is one way to interpret the backlash. An extra $6 a month, when extrapolated over the course of a year only totals an extra $72. To someone willing to pay $120 a year for their Netflix experience, is $192 going to break their bank?

And if that answer is no, then is it just about the principle of the thing? People get pissed when something that they come to take for granted is taken away from them. You are used to both streaming and DVDs for a low price? Too bad, says Netflix. It doesn’t “make great financial sense,” as they say on their blog today.

And if the answer is yes, then maybe switching to just one of the two services and paying roughly $96 a year could actually be beneficial.

Screw it, I’m just going to download everything.

@mattarena88
MattWhat the fuck Netflix is revamping their pricing? I gotta pay $16 now? I’m THIS close to going back to pirate-only…. 51 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

Will this pricing change put more people back on torrent sites? It’s not that everyone ever really left them – filesharing still exists (duh). But Netflix and Hulu serve as a companion to filesharing to some.

Will people that choose to only keep their streaming Netflix service simply revert to the internet to get the new releases that they want to watch? It’s definitely possible. And before you say anything, no, I’m not insinuating that Netflix is now responsible for increased piracy.

There’s no doubt that the new subscription structure will affect how people use the service that they love. On a final note, is it crazy to wonder if Netflix is simply taking their first step in completely weeding out physical DVDs from their service?

[Image Courtesy]

July 12, 2011
Hulu Owners Committed To Selling

It’s no secret that Hulu owners are eager to sale the popular TV and movie streaming service. Sadly,
they’re main focus is getting the top dollar amount, not who will be purchasing the service. The future of Hulu is at stake here, and the owners don’t seem to care who gets it… as long as they have deep pockets.

Do you think Hulu should be concerned with who purchases the service? Let us know your thoughts.

Yesterday at the Allen & Co. media conference, Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive, Robert Iger, said the owners of Hulu are “committed to selling“. He also predicted the site would sale, but gave no timetable of a possible deal.

At this time there are preliminary discussions taking place with about a dozen potential buyers, according to Reuters. The list of candidates includes Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and some non-U.S. based media companies.

Hulu is jointly owned by Disney, News Corp, Comcast Corp’s NBC Universal and Providence Equity Partners

July 7, 2011
Hulu Plus on Android Now a Reality

Hulu Plus has made its way to Android, which could be key in its competition with other players like Netflix, who also recently launched Android support.

Like Netflix, however, Android support doesn’t mean availability for all Android devices. Only certain smartphone models work, but also like Netflix, Hulu promises to expand upon that number of devices.

On Hulu’s blog, Director of Product Management Rob Wong writes:

We’ve always said our mission is to provide the world’s premium content to people when, how and where they want it. And we know that a lot of people want that content on their Android smartphones. We’ve been working hard to make that a reality, and today, we have begun our early rollout of theHulu Plus application on Android smartphones.

With the first phase of the Android rollout, Hulu Plus is available on six phones, including the Nexus One, Nexus S, HTC Inspire 4G, Motorola Droid II, Motorola Droid X, and the Motorola Atrix. We expect to add to the number of Android smartphones and will be making additional device announcements throughout the year.

The free Hulu Plus app is available for download from Android Market, and once installed, Hulu Plus subscribers will be able to enjoy the service on the go. As always, Hulu Plus offers new subscribers one free week to try the service.

Netflix has talked in the past about why they couldn’t must push out an Android app that works on everything.

“We regard Android as an exciting technology that drives a range of great devices that our members could use to instantly watch TV shows and movies from Netflix,” explained Netflix’s Greg Peters late last year. “We are eager to launch on these devices and are disappointed that we haven’t been able to do so already. The hurdle has been the lack of a generic and complete platform security and content protection mechanism available for Android. The same security issues that have led to piracy concerns on the Android platform have made it difficult for us to secure a common Digital Rights Management (DRM) system on these devices. Setting aside the debate around the value of content protection and DRM, they are requirements we must fulfill in order to obtain content from major studios for our subscribers to enjoy. Although we don’t have a common platform security mechanism and DRM, we are able to work with individual handset manufacturers to add content protection to their devices. Unfortunately, this is a much slower approach and leads to a fragmented experience on Android, in which some handsets will have access to Netflix and others won’t.”

I’m going to go out on a limb and speculate that Hulu has had similar issues.

Besides select Android devices, Hulu Plus is also available for iOS devices, Xbox 360, Sony PS3, Roku’s streaming player, various TVs and Blu-Ray players from Samsung, Sony, Vizio, Panasonic, LG, and Haier, WD TV media players, TiVo Premiere, and of course PCs.

June 23, 2011
Is Dave Chappelle Coming To Netflix?

“Haters wanna hate, lovers wanna love. I don’t even want, none of the above. I wanna see Dave Chappelle back on my television screen by any means necessary.” Yes, I’ve altered the lyrics to Chappelle’s epic R Kelly spoof, “Piss On You” to better fit the occasion, which is the rumor that Dave Chappelle could be returning to the smaller screen, except, this time, it doesn’t look like Comedy Central will be involved.

No, if the rumor is correct, Chappelle will be taking a page from the upcoming Kevin Spacey show that will appear on Netflix and apparently debut his new material on a subscription-based platform. Before the rumor is addressed, a little history on Dave Chappelle’s stint with television. After his first two successful seasons on Comedy Central, featuring such gems like the lead video, the Clayton Bigsby skit, the Racial Draft, and the Charlie Murphy stories about Rick James, to name a few, Chappelle was rewarded with a $55 million contract to continue making Chappelle’s Show. Shortly after the contract was made public, Chappelle famously walked away from the agreement, for reasons he shared with Oprah Winfrey.

Since his unexpected departure, Chappelle has been doing various projects, but none have brought him the recognition he received while on Comedy Central, which is something he wanted to begin with. Nevertheless, the man behind the brilliant Killing Them Softly HBO stand up has never fully fallen out of the public’s eye, much like Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson. Although both of these creative geniuses willingly walked away from the jewels they created, the public is always on the lookout for their comeback.

While that may be out of the question with Watterson, if the rumors of Chappelle’s return are valid, it’s obvious the itch to entertain the masses hasn’t been properly scratched. Now, before you start celebrating the his potential return, the rumor should be directly addressed. The rumor of Chappelle’s return is featured at The Daily, and it’s their sources who indicate the paid-subscription model would be the method of content delivery. The Daily has more:

“Dave Chappelle’s going back to TV,” tattled our insider. “It’s not for a network. It’s for Netflix or Crackle or some other subscription service.”

While there has been no verification from Chappelle or his camp, the idea is simply to enticing to ignore. Netflix is mentioned because it’s an obvious choice, but they aren’t the only subscription service in the rumor. Sony’s Crackle service and Hulu are both indicated as possibilities for Chappelle’s new show, provided the rumor is accurate. As for why Chappelle would prefer such a content delivery method, The Daily indicates he’d have the creative control he lacked at Comedy Central.

With Netflix’s upcoming House of Cards, the aforementioned Kevin Spacey project, and the viability of streaming video content, the rumor certainly makes sense, especially when you consider Chappelle’s struggles with control. The fact that companies like Netflix and Hulu are feverishly trying to expand to the original content section of streaming, and the buzz Chappelle’s name continues to offer, makes such a marriage look promising. Chappelle would be happy doing his stuff without input from suits, while Netflix or Hulu would be happy with such a buzz-worthy name in the original content stable.

As for the validity of the rumor, it’s hard to say. Chappelle or his camp — provided he still has one — hasn’t offered anything in the way of confirmation or denial, so all we have right now is The Daily’s report, which has hit the wires and is being reported at a number of publications. Because the rumor is so enticing, here’s another gem from Chappelle’s Show, and it should provide insight as to why people would be excited about his return:

For shizzle.

June 16, 2011
Hulu, Networks to Reach New Deal

It looks like Hulu will remain a strong force in the streaming content wars. The company is apparently very close to a new deal with its company overlords News Corp., Disney and NBC Universal to continue to stream FOX, NBC and ABC content. The new agreement would be an extension of the one signed two years ago, according to All Things Digital.

Here’s the statement from Hulu CEO Jason Kilar about the talks:

News Corp, Disney, Providence and the Hulu team have been engaged in productive discussions to extend our existing content agreements a number of years. Keep in mind that our existing Hulu.com content agreements already extend for several more years; these discussions would extend the term further and also extend our separate Hulu Plus content agreements.

Between the operating results and formalizing the above, it is shaping up to be a big year for Hulu.

If you remember, Kilar made a splash in February when he discussed the “future of TV” in a hulu blog post. In this post he challenged the basic structure of network television, saying that there are too many ads on traditional TV and that consumers don’t want lineups that are set in stone, but want to watch shows on their own time.

According to All Things D’s sources, most of the basic structure of the contract will remain unchanged. Hulu.com will stay ad-supported and Hulu Plus will still be a paid subscription with much more content. Hulu viewers probably won’t notice much change, as the new deal is likely to only affect a small amount of programming and possibly change the windows of availability for some content.

Though the terms of the new deal may not affect the normal viewer, they make shake up things for the companies involved. Apparently the terms may also deal with more flexible content distribution, allowing the networks the right to put their programming out on other outlets as well as Hulu. Disney’s CEO Bob Iger said that he “doesn’t intend to let a platform, even one we own, get in the way of doing what we think it right” at last week’s earnings call.

The landscape of digital streaming has changed dramatically since Hulu’s inception. Hulu Plus and Netflix will probably continue to due battle for the paid streaming content market. Just recently, Hulu Plus launched on Xbox 360, joining the already present Netflix app that has been around for some time.

May 13, 2011