Execs starting to think of new ways to “capture the value” of their online content.
Video-streaming site Hulu was founded by NBC Universal, News Corp., The Walt Disney Company, and others back in 2007 as legal alternative to illegal streaming sites like TVLinks or QuickSilverScreen.
“Hulu’s mission is to help people find and enjoy the world’s premium video content when, where and how they want it,” reads the site. “As we pursue this mission, we aspire to create a service that users, advertisers, and content owners unabashedly love.”
In keeping with that intent to make at least content owners have an “unabashed love” with the site it’s apparently going to begin charging users sometime next year.
At the recent B&C OnScreen summit News Corp. Deputy Chairman Chase Carey said that “it’s time to start getting paid for broadcast content online.”
“I think a free model is a very difficult way to capture the value of our content,” he added. “I think what we need to do is deliver that content to consumers in a way where they will appreciate the value. Hulu concurs with that, it needs to evolve to have a meaningful subscription model as part of its business.”
I think it was only a matter of time before sites like Hulu began charging viewers, but it ignores why they were created in the first place, which was to provide an alternative to illegal streaming and download sites.
Why would you pay to view content online when you most likely already have a cable TV package with DVR and BitTorrent client at the ready just in case?
Stay tuned.
[Via B&C]
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NOTE: Check out our list of TV Links sites here at Zeropaid.
I've been interested in P2P since the early, high-flying days of Napster and KaZaA. I believe that analog copyright laws are ill-suited to the digital age, and that art and culture shouldn't be subject to the whims of international entertainment industry conglomerates. Twitter | Google Plus
