6 ms·

That never really made sense to me either. If you're going to pay for hulu, you would expect to not have to sit through the commercials.

meepmorp 13y ago
> That never really made sense to me either. It makes perfect sense. Money from subscriptions is good; extra money from ads is better. And as much as you or I dislike it, we're probably in a minority position here - if it was really cutting into earnings, they'd have cut it out by now.
- Supermighty 13y ago
  Hulu having ads isn't about the money they make. It's about keeping ads as normal in peoples minds. If Netflix and Hulu and any other online only vod dropped all ads then people might start to resent ads, and seem them as abnormal. Then people will watch less network and cable TV, which need ads.
  - trhtrsh 13y ago
    Most of Netflix doesn't have ads.
    - zwily 13y ago
      Are there any ads on Netflix? I can't think of any.
      - johneth 13y ago
        There's product placement in some programmes, for example the Netflix-produced House of Cards contains jarring product placement for the Playstation Vita.
        DanBC 13y ago
        That was surprising and disappointing. I guess they need product placement, but some of the Playstation stuff was a bit heavy handed and ham fisted.
        Retric 13y ago
        There is a lot of product placement in most TV shows this was just poorly done. If someone says a brand name or you see a logo long enough to read it than chances are that's product placement. EX: Someone's drinking a beer/soda I'd you see the label it's deliberate.
        deleted 13y ago
        [deleted]
      - Supermighty 13y ago
        There are not ads on Netflix. I wasn't being clear enough. I meant that if there are video on demand services like Netflix without ads then people will see ads as a discomfort in vod services with ads, like Hulu.
Cushman 13y ago
While I agree the idea of it is ludicrous-- paid cable subscriptions come with commercials. Is this really so shocking?
Steko 13y ago
Well most people pay for basic cable and most of those channels have ads. Granted HBO and Netflix don't have commercials but I think they also both use product placement (edit: see granddaughter comment for more info) in their original content so it's not like there's some philosophical commitment they've made to not show subscribers ads to pad the bottom line.
- w1ntermute 13y ago
  I'd rather have (tastefully done) product placement than ads. And I could never notice any product placement in House of Cards or Game of Thrones.
  - Steko 13y ago
    Honestly they should just add another tier with no ads. $8: Hulu with x ads per show. $9: Hulu ad free. There was a True Blood/Apple image series atop reddit not too long ago but Googling reveals that HBO insists that they don't raise money for product placement but allow writers to use products so score one for HBO. Humorously, Apple claims they don't pay for product placement but they do give devices away which is supposed to be different I guess. Netflix ran into problems with Lillehammer due to Norwegian law against paid placement. House of Cards with non-paid for Apple advert below: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1537771 http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1537771
    - Steko 13y ago
      Just to go further into the numbers Hulu makes quite a bit from the ads. Link [1] is from Feb 2011 when Hulu was making 14.3 cents per episode. That means if you were watching 2 episodes a day Hulu was making more from you in a month from ads then from the Hulu Plus subscription. And I think ads have noticeably increased since 2011. I guess we know why that autoplay next episode kicks in so fast. And I guess it goes to the true cost of these licensing deals and why Netflix has a much worse tv selection that's a year old. [1] http://www.wirelessgoodness.com/2011/02/04/hulu-generates-0-143-in-ad-revenue-per-episode-more-than-cable-and-dvrs-but-not-broadcast/ http://www.wirelessgoodness.com/2011/02/04/hulu-generates-0-...
SoftwareMaven 13y ago
The commercials is the reason I've never bothered with a Hulu sub. I pay on iTunes and Netflix so I don't have to deal with those.
trhtrsh 13y ago
My understanding is that the Hulu subscription pays for fixed overhead (and profit), and the ads pay for marginal licensing. That might be a lie, though.

meepmorp 13y ago

> That never really made sense to me either. It makes perfect sense. Money from subscriptions is good; extra money from ads is better. And as much as you or I dislike it, we're probably in a minority position here - if it was really cutting into earnings, they'd have cut it out by now.

Supermighty 13y ago
Hulu having ads isn't about the money they make. It's about keeping ads as normal in peoples minds. If Netflix and Hulu and any other online only vod dropped all ads then people might start to resent ads, and seem them as abnormal. Then people will watch less network and cable TV, which need ads.
- trhtrsh 13y ago
  Most of Netflix doesn't have ads.
  - zwily 13y ago
    Are there any ads on Netflix? I can't think of any.
    - johneth 13y ago
      There's product placement in some programmes, for example the Netflix-produced House of Cards contains jarring product placement for the Playstation Vita.
      - DanBC 13y ago
        That was surprising and disappointing. I guess they need product placement, but some of the Playstation stuff was a bit heavy handed and ham fisted.
        Retric 13y ago
        There is a lot of product placement in most TV shows this was just poorly done. If someone says a brand name or you see a logo long enough to read it than chances are that's product placement. EX: Someone's drinking a beer/soda I'd you see the label it's deliberate.
      - deleted 13y ago
        [deleted]
    - Supermighty 13y ago
      There are not ads on Netflix. I wasn't being clear enough. I meant that if there are video on demand services like Netflix without ads then people will see ads as a discomfort in vod services with ads, like Hulu.

Cushman 13y ago

While I agree the idea of it is ludicrous-- paid cable subscriptions come with commercials. Is this really so shocking?

Steko 13y ago

Well most people pay for basic cable and most of those channels have ads. Granted HBO and Netflix don't have commercials but I think they also both use product placement (edit: see granddaughter comment for more info) in their original content so it's not like there's some philosophical commitment they've made to not show subscribers ads to pad the bottom line.

w1ntermute 13y ago
I'd rather have (tastefully done) product placement than ads. And I could never notice any product placement in House of Cards or Game of Thrones.
- Steko 13y ago
  Honestly they should just add another tier with no ads. $8: Hulu with x ads per show. $9: Hulu ad free. There was a True Blood/Apple image series atop reddit not too long ago but Googling reveals that HBO insists that they don't raise money for product placement but allow writers to use products so score one for HBO. Humorously, Apple claims they don't pay for product placement but they do give devices away which is supposed to be different I guess. Netflix ran into problems with Lillehammer due to Norwegian law against paid placement. House of Cards with non-paid for Apple advert below: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1537771 http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1537771
  - Steko 13y ago
    Just to go further into the numbers Hulu makes quite a bit from the ads. Link [1] is from Feb 2011 when Hulu was making 14.3 cents per episode. That means if you were watching 2 episodes a day Hulu was making more from you in a month from ads then from the Hulu Plus subscription. And I think ads have noticeably increased since 2011. I guess we know why that autoplay next episode kicks in so fast. And I guess it goes to the true cost of these licensing deals and why Netflix has a much worse tv selection that's a year old. [1] http://www.wirelessgoodness.com/2011/02/04/hulu-generates-0-143-in-ad-revenue-per-episode-more-than-cable-and-dvrs-but-not-broadcast/ http://www.wirelessgoodness.com/2011/02/04/hulu-generates-0-...

SoftwareMaven 13y ago

The commercials is the reason I've never bothered with a Hulu sub. I pay on iTunes and Netflix so I don't have to deal with those.

trhtrsh 13y ago

My understanding is that the Hulu subscription pays for fixed overhead (and profit), and the ads pay for marginal licensing. That might be a lie, though.