Hulu Adds Commercial-Free Viewing | Hacker News Reader

Hulu Adds Commercial-Free Viewing

businesswire.com

6 pointsingve9 comments

It is welcome, but is it too little too late? When Hulu first appeared on the scene, there was very little competition for the content they had (namely brand new TV). Since then most of the major networks have created competing paid services to Hulu that already lack adverts. People avoided Hulu+ because the idea of paying AND getting ads was unwelcomed, and they offered nothing else. Seems like they've burnt through much of their competitive advantage.

Can I also just say, Hulu's adverts might not be so bad if they didn't show you the same advert twice in one commercial break, or six times in one 45 minute show(!). I'd be pretty annoying if I was a Hulu advertiser and I discovered they showed my ad twice in a row and billed me twice (since that isn't an effective way to advertise AND it makes people hate the advert). But as a user OR advertiser it sucks.

It seems that not all shows will be commercial free, however. I understand that they must have special arrangements with those producers, but it feels very odd.

    Will all shows and movies be commercial free?

    In response to feedback from our viewers, 
    we started offering a commercial-free experience
    on Hulu. For a small number of shows, however, we 
    have not obtained the rights to stream commercial 
    free and they are not included in our No Commercials
    plan. You can still easily access these shows with 
    short commercial before and after each episode with no 
    interruptions during the episode. Specific shows that
    still have commercials accessible through the No Commercials 
    plan will be noted throughout the signup, switching, and
    playback experience. While the list of shows may change,
    these shows are currently: Grey’s Anatomy, Once Upon A
    Time, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Scandal, Grimm,
    New Girl, and How To Get Away With Murder.

Looking at two shows at random (Agents of SHIELD and New Girl), they don't share any production or distribution, so it must be a per-show arrangement.

I've yet to find anywhere else with the combination of cheapness and convenience that Hulu offers for the content they've got. I'll happily pay a few extra dollars a month to get rid of the ads.

Considering how much advertising seems to affect people (I'm sure you can remember at least one commercial that played even from the early years of your life), it's amazing to think that all of those repetitive, manipulative, annoying ads can be wiped away for free if you agree to drink one latte a month (or whatever you drink).

It's remarkable that they decided to keep the commercial offering.

I disagree. I think the commercial-sponsored avenue is the way they want to continue.

When you provide a commercial-free option, the only way to squeeze more revenue out of it is to raise the subscription rate. But if you normally serve commercials too, then you can double-dip: you can occasionally raise the subscription rate (which risks angering your customer base) or you can simply add another commercial or two to a break.

And if that pisses off your customers, then it's easy for them to go to the commercial-free plan.

I have had no problems with Hulu's ad offerings and will happily stick with the ad subsidized option.

Too late, I already swore them off when they made me pay to watch commercials.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com