5 ms·

Hulu shows commercials even if you pay. I'm sure Netflix will start once revenue starts slipping.

excalibur 7y ago
Hulu does offer an ad-free tier, it's like double the cost of the basic plan. I haven't sprung for it yet, but I'm sorely tempted. I can see Netflix looking to a similar model in the future. What are they at now, $12.99? I can see the current base subscription going to $14.99, while simultaneously launching an ad-supported version priced around $7.99. Edit: Netflix actually DOES offer a cheaper $8.99 plan currently. This one is restricted to one screen at a time, and does not offer content in HD. So if they stuck ads on it, maybe they could bring the price down to like $5.99.
- MisterBastahrd 7y ago
  I pay for the ad-free tier but I still get ads for their live streaming service (and for their DVR, every commercial break gets replaced with 3 minutes of non-fastforwardable commercial content), which is why I'm probably going to stop using their streaming service. I really only wanted it for sports channels anyway.
  - bobwaycott 7y ago
    I think this must be show-dependent. I, too, pay for the ad-free tier, and the most ad-like thing I've seen is a 2- or 3-second Family Guy is returning on <date> and a FOX logo interstitial at the start of streaming an episode of Family Guy. Can't recall seeing anything else across a number of shows.
    - jdminhbg 7y ago
      It seems to be network/show-dependent. The ad-free package removes all the ads that Hulu shows, but if Fox has ads of their own they're still in there. I usually get a single FX show promo in every Simpsons episode I watch.
    - MisterBastahrd 7y ago
      I have no idea. Sports events tend to be hours long, and every commercial break has these. You can technically skip a few minutes ahead, but then you miss part of the game.
- t0mas88 7y ago
  YouTube 30 second preroll ads cost currently around $ 7 per 1000 views and it's decreasing. So to take Netflix from $ 14.99 to $ 7.99 per month they would have to show you around 500 minutes of ads every month. That's 33 of those 30 seconds ads every day, without skipping a day. While you still pay $ 7.99 per month as well. I don't expect consumers will accept that. So the only way they can make an ad-supported Netflix work is to create some form of much more effective ad (which usually means taking more of your data) or attract a very specific high value audience (makes them too much of a niche player for their size)
  - excalibur 7y ago
    They could mess around with the amount of ad time per program and the plan price. I think Hulu is showing at least 5 minutes of ads per 22 minute program, so watching two hours of programming would exceed the ad time you mentioned. This is reasonable for a single day, but a high bar for a daily average.
  - gbronner 7y ago
    Nahh... they'd just make the cheaper product obnoxiously time wasteful so most people upgrade. It doesn't have to stand on its own.
  - sib 7y ago
    Premium video ads sell at much higher CPM than YouTube. Hulu makes more money from users on their "with-ads" tier than on the higher-priced "ad-free" tier.
    - cwkoss 7y ago
      I think a lot of people refuse to pay for an "ad-free" tier that still insists on occasionally showing ads, feels scummy.
ohlookabird 7y ago
Well, that will be the moment I leave Netflix.
1123581321 7y ago
If we’re talking subscription tiers with commercials, the cost per month for a bunch of services is much cheaper than cable equivalent.
monetus 7y ago
Netflix has experimented with it. They do product placement still, but the show disjointed has plain commericals. They are a tad unusual for commercials, in that they share the theme of the show.
- zwkrt 7y ago
  When the content and the advertisement have fully meshed, only then does one reach true nirvana. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9hepxidZyo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9hepxidZyo
  - monetus 7y ago
    This is what I had in mind when I wrote that comment, but 30 rock was a great show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvsTKbGKtbU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvsTKbGKtbU
Mindwipe 7y ago
> Hulu shows commercials even if you pay. Hulu has literally half a dozen old shows that they are contractually required to show an ad in front of or take down entirely. The vast, vast majority of users on the service will never see one. It's a very different scenario to a company actively looking to increase advertising.
mortenjorck 7y ago
Netflix shows commercials right now; they’re just commercials for other Netflix shows. I doubt they’ll start selling the post-roll space to third parties, though, as it’s evidently more profitable for them to use that space to keep you subscribing to the service than to make a few cents for an ad placement. As for cable-style interstitial commercials, though, the only way I could see Netflix ever doing that is if the company were to enter a Blockbuster-level tailspin. It would be selling off the core Netflix experience just to stay afloat.
- mokus 7y ago
  It bothers me how many people think I’m psychotic when I express this opinion. Frankly, I don’t care whose content they are promoting - SOMEONE please put a fucking price tag on a service that plays exactly the content I select AND NOTHING ELSE. Stupid semantic arguments about whether it is an ad are not are completely irrelevant to the fact that I don’t want to see content I did not pick.
zwkrt 7y ago
I feel like this is some sort of maxim/law: Its inevitable that any product which currently does not include ads will eventually include ads.
- TeMPOraL 7y ago
  Advertising is a disease, it infects and corrupts everything it touches. Often it starts when a company realizes it's another revenue stream, and adds commercials to a product people already pay for. And when there are competitors, this lets a company undercut them.
  - cwkoss 7y ago
    In 100 years, we'll look back in horror at the thought of showing advertisements to children.
TheRealSteel 7y ago
Netflix already does, they have pretty obvious product placement.
- broknbottle 7y ago
  Julian's glass of rum and coke in trailer park boys? Is that reason why I always have the urge for a glass of rum and coke when I watch tpb?
asdff 7y ago
Netflix starts rolling commercials the minute you open the website or app

Hulu does offer an ad-free tier, it's like double the cost of the basic plan. I haven't sprung for it yet, but I'm sorely tempted. I can see Netflix looking to a similar model in the future. What are they at now, $12.99? I can see the current base subscription going to $14.99, while simultaneously launching an ad-supported version priced around $7.99. Edit: Netflix actually DOES offer a cheaper $8.99 plan currently. This one is restricted to one screen at a time, and does not offer content in HD. So if they stuck ads on it, maybe they could bring the price down to like $5.99.

MisterBastahrd 7y ago
I pay for the ad-free tier but I still get ads for their live streaming service (and for their DVR, every commercial break gets replaced with 3 minutes of non-fastforwardable commercial content), which is why I'm probably going to stop using their streaming service. I really only wanted it for sports channels anyway.
- bobwaycott 7y ago
  I think this must be show-dependent. I, too, pay for the ad-free tier, and the most ad-like thing I've seen is a 2- or 3-second Family Guy is returning on <date> and a FOX logo interstitial at the start of streaming an episode of Family Guy. Can't recall seeing anything else across a number of shows.
  - jdminhbg 7y ago
    It seems to be network/show-dependent. The ad-free package removes all the ads that Hulu shows, but if Fox has ads of their own they're still in there. I usually get a single FX show promo in every Simpsons episode I watch.
  - MisterBastahrd 7y ago
    I have no idea. Sports events tend to be hours long, and every commercial break has these. You can technically skip a few minutes ahead, but then you miss part of the game.
t0mas88 7y ago
YouTube 30 second preroll ads cost currently around $ 7 per 1000 views and it's decreasing. So to take Netflix from $ 14.99 to $ 7.99 per month they would have to show you around 500 minutes of ads every month. That's 33 of those 30 seconds ads every day, without skipping a day. While you still pay $ 7.99 per month as well. I don't expect consumers will accept that. So the only way they can make an ad-supported Netflix work is to create some form of much more effective ad (which usually means taking more of your data) or attract a very specific high value audience (makes them too much of a niche player for their size)
- excalibur 7y ago
  They could mess around with the amount of ad time per program and the plan price. I think Hulu is showing at least 5 minutes of ads per 22 minute program, so watching two hours of programming would exceed the ad time you mentioned. This is reasonable for a single day, but a high bar for a daily average.
- gbronner 7y ago
  Nahh... they'd just make the cheaper product obnoxiously time wasteful so most people upgrade. It doesn't have to stand on its own.
- sib 7y ago
  Premium video ads sell at much higher CPM than YouTube. Hulu makes more money from users on their "with-ads" tier than on the higher-priced "ad-free" tier.
  - cwkoss 7y ago
    I think a lot of people refuse to pay for an "ad-free" tier that still insists on occasionally showing ads, feels scummy.

ohlookabird 7y ago

Well, that will be the moment I leave Netflix.

1123581321 7y ago

If we’re talking subscription tiers with commercials, the cost per month for a bunch of services is much cheaper than cable equivalent.

monetus 7y ago

Netflix has experimented with it. They do product placement still, but the show disjointed has plain commericals. They are a tad unusual for commercials, in that they share the theme of the show.

zwkrt 7y ago
When the content and the advertisement have fully meshed, only then does one reach true nirvana. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9hepxidZyo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9hepxidZyo
- monetus 7y ago
  This is what I had in mind when I wrote that comment, but 30 rock was a great show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvsTKbGKtbU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvsTKbGKtbU

Mindwipe 7y ago

> Hulu shows commercials even if you pay. Hulu has literally half a dozen old shows that they are contractually required to show an ad in front of or take down entirely. The vast, vast majority of users on the service will never see one. It's a very different scenario to a company actively looking to increase advertising.

mortenjorck 7y ago

Netflix shows commercials right now; they’re just commercials for other Netflix shows. I doubt they’ll start selling the post-roll space to third parties, though, as it’s evidently more profitable for them to use that space to keep you subscribing to the service than to make a few cents for an ad placement. As for cable-style interstitial commercials, though, the only way I could see Netflix ever doing that is if the company were to enter a Blockbuster-level tailspin. It would be selling off the core Netflix experience just to stay afloat.

mokus 7y ago
It bothers me how many people think I’m psychotic when I express this opinion. Frankly, I don’t care whose content they are promoting - SOMEONE please put a fucking price tag on a service that plays exactly the content I select AND NOTHING ELSE. Stupid semantic arguments about whether it is an ad are not are completely irrelevant to the fact that I don’t want to see content I did not pick.

zwkrt 7y ago

I feel like this is some sort of maxim/law: Its inevitable that any product which currently does not include ads will eventually include ads.

TeMPOraL 7y ago
Advertising is a disease, it infects and corrupts everything it touches. Often it starts when a company realizes it's another revenue stream, and adds commercials to a product people already pay for. And when there are competitors, this lets a company undercut them.
- cwkoss 7y ago
  In 100 years, we'll look back in horror at the thought of showing advertisements to children.

TheRealSteel 7y ago

Netflix already does, they have pretty obvious product placement.

broknbottle 7y ago
Julian's glass of rum and coke in trailer park boys? Is that reason why I always have the urge for a glass of rum and coke when I watch tpb?

asdff 7y ago

Netflix starts rolling commercials the minute you open the website or app