4 ms·

Hulu Shaves $2 Off The Monthly Price Of Hulu Plus, Will Refund Early Adopters

25 points by ssclafani 16y ago

larsberg 16y ago
I'd rather they charge more and actually get rid of the commercials. After the spoilings from Netflix and Crunchyroll, the Hulu ads really annoy me. Especially that far-too-loud little piggy Geico commercial.
- IgorPartola 16y ago
  Agreed. Granted, it is their house and their rules, I have been looking for an effective way to to communicate this to them. The other thing that bothers me about Hulu Plus is the fact that old seasons get nixed at some point for some shows. The reason I signed up right away is to have full access to old shows.
- mortenjorck 16y ago
  I'm guessing their research was showing their audience was more price-sensitive than anything, but I wonder if this isn't just a hidden element of price they are failing to take into account. I've seen this sentiment echoed over and over, that people would subscribe if it meant spending more per month to avoid ads.
  - IgorPartola 16y ago
    So why not provide a three tier system? Free, plus and no commercials. I will put this out there: I will pay as much as I would for cable for no commercials + all the seasons of all the major shows. In my area that's around $50/mo.
pavs 16y ago
Hulu is another one of those great ideas that lost its track. I am not going to pay money to watch ad-sponsored show. I don't even watch freemium Hulu when they have ads.
- robryan 16y ago
  How would you suggest they run it differently?
  - pavs 16y ago
    Reasonable higher price without ads. Paying for ads is a dubious notion when there are better options online right now. Sure they might not have larger collection or more recent shows, but its still better than paying for ads IMO. They could have started off with two options. - Ad-supported lower monthly - No-ads higher monthly They wouldn't have to guess through trial and error to see the ideal model, people would have voted with their money.
- chopsueyar 16y ago
  Once I became accustomed to Netflix streaming, it was very difficult to rationalize paying for ad-sponsored streaming, particularly if it is being broadcasted OTA for free (and available sooner). They should double(or triple) the price and drop the ads.
  - steveklabnik 16y ago
    My parents have never had cable, my mom is pretty hardcore anti-anything-thats-not-pbs. One time I mentioned seeing a funny commercial while I was at someone's house, "Wait... doesn't he have cable? Why are there commercials if they're paying for it?" I used to tell that story and laugh at her, now I tell that story and laugh at me. :/
- eitally 16y ago
  I do, because the alternative is handing over much money to my cable provider. I wish they offered the "watch a long ad at the beginning and then enjoy uninterrupted programming" for everything, though.
  - pavs 16y ago
    I don't watch TV at all. Netflix is my first connection to tv shows in about 3 years. I only started watching it about 2 months ago when someone recommended it to me. Few days ago I went to my friends house and was waiting to go out. The TV was on, I was surprised how quickly annoyed I got with all the ads. I can't go back to that shit anymore. If I remember correctly Hulu ads are more annoying and frequent than TV ads (and they sometimes require human interaction, ie, "Click X", to go away!). I don't know if it got better though.
adamc 16y ago
My interpretation of this is that the service isn't doing as well as they'd hoped. I haven't subscribed, largely because I refuse to pay to watch commercials. (I know, you do that on cable. We cut cable a while ago in favor of Netflix...)
xyzzyb 16y ago
I'd love it, but their "currently on air" selection is much too limited, more limited than the free version.
chopsueyar 16y ago
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815327005&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Video+Devices+++TV+Tuners-_-SiliconDust-_-15327005 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815327...
ck2 16y ago
At that price you could buy a TV series DVD set each month and have many hours of ad-free viewing. And then have it to re-watch sometime in the future. Here's hoping netflix doesn't start to think ads are good idea.
- smallegan 16y ago
  A TV Series DVD set usually has a suggested retail price of between $45-60...and you can generally find them on sale for no less than $15-25. That is over 2x the cost for a DVD set and you get stuck watching one show.

25 points by ssclafani 16y ago

I'd rather they charge more and actually get rid of the commercials. After the spoilings from Netflix and Crunchyroll, the Hulu ads really annoy me. Especially that far-too-loud little piggy Geico commercial.

IgorPartola 16y ago
Agreed. Granted, it is their house and their rules, I have been looking for an effective way to to communicate this to them. The other thing that bothers me about Hulu Plus is the fact that old seasons get nixed at some point for some shows. The reason I signed up right away is to have full access to old shows.
mortenjorck 16y ago
I'm guessing their research was showing their audience was more price-sensitive than anything, but I wonder if this isn't just a hidden element of price they are failing to take into account. I've seen this sentiment echoed over and over, that people would subscribe if it meant spending more per month to avoid ads.
- IgorPartola 16y ago
  So why not provide a three tier system? Free, plus and no commercials. I will put this out there: I will pay as much as I would for cable for no commercials + all the seasons of all the major shows. In my area that's around $50/mo.

pavs 16y ago

Hulu is another one of those great ideas that lost its track. I am not going to pay money to watch ad-sponsored show. I don't even watch freemium Hulu when they have ads.

robryan 16y ago
How would you suggest they run it differently?
- pavs 16y ago
  Reasonable higher price without ads. Paying for ads is a dubious notion when there are better options online right now. Sure they might not have larger collection or more recent shows, but its still better than paying for ads IMO. They could have started off with two options. - Ad-supported lower monthly - No-ads higher monthly They wouldn't have to guess through trial and error to see the ideal model, people would have voted with their money.
chopsueyar 16y ago
Once I became accustomed to Netflix streaming, it was very difficult to rationalize paying for ad-sponsored streaming, particularly if it is being broadcasted OTA for free (and available sooner). They should double(or triple) the price and drop the ads.
- steveklabnik 16y ago
  My parents have never had cable, my mom is pretty hardcore anti-anything-thats-not-pbs. One time I mentioned seeing a funny commercial while I was at someone's house, "Wait... doesn't he have cable? Why are there commercials if they're paying for it?" I used to tell that story and laugh at her, now I tell that story and laugh at me. :/
eitally 16y ago
I do, because the alternative is handing over much money to my cable provider. I wish they offered the "watch a long ad at the beginning and then enjoy uninterrupted programming" for everything, though.
- pavs 16y ago
  I don't watch TV at all. Netflix is my first connection to tv shows in about 3 years. I only started watching it about 2 months ago when someone recommended it to me. Few days ago I went to my friends house and was waiting to go out. The TV was on, I was surprised how quickly annoyed I got with all the ads. I can't go back to that shit anymore. If I remember correctly Hulu ads are more annoying and frequent than TV ads (and they sometimes require human interaction, ie, "Click X", to go away!). I don't know if it got better though.

adamc 16y ago

My interpretation of this is that the service isn't doing as well as they'd hoped. I haven't subscribed, largely because I refuse to pay to watch commercials. (I know, you do that on cable. We cut cable a while ago in favor of Netflix...)

xyzzyb 16y ago

I'd love it, but their "currently on air" selection is much too limited, more limited than the free version.

chopsueyar 16y ago

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815327005&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Video+Devices+++TV+Tuners-_-SiliconDust-_-15327005 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815327...

ck2 16y ago

At that price you could buy a TV series DVD set each month and have many hours of ad-free viewing. And then have it to re-watch sometime in the future. Here's hoping netflix doesn't start to think ads are good idea.

smallegan 16y ago
A TV Series DVD set usually has a suggested retail price of between $45-60...and you can generally find them on sale for no less than $15-25. That is over 2x the cost for a DVD set and you get stuck watching one show.