Hulu confirms plans to launch live TV streaming in 2017
Just two days after the first rumors surfaced, Hulu on Wednesday confirmed that it will be launching a live TV streaming service sometime in 2017, creating a tougher competitive landscape for anything Apple might have planned.
Word came from CEO Mike Hopkins, speaking at today's Hulu Upfronts in New York, TechCrunch reported. The executive didn't offer many details, but promised the service would have channels from both broadcast and cable networks, including news and sports.
People will also have some access to on-demand content, Hopkins said. He didn't elaborate, however, on whether a live TV subscription would include the same catalog available to present-day Hulu subscribers.
Rumors have hinted that Hulu co-owners Disney and Fox will be the main content providers, with options including ABC, ESPN, and Disney Channel, plus Fox, Fox News, FX, and Fox's national and regional sports channels. Wall Street Journal sources indicated that another co-owner, NBCUniversal, hadn't agreed to license any channels, but Variety later said that "active negotiations" were in early stages. NBCUniversal could fill some critical gaps in Hulu's lineup, among them not just NBC itself but channels like MSNBC and Syfy.
More details will be revealed later in 2016, Hopkins added.
Pricing remains the biggest question. One Journal source suggested it would be close to $40 per month, but that might potentially kill interest given cheaper plans from Sling TV and Sony's PlayStation Vue, unless full on-demand content is attached.
Apple has allegedly been aiming at a service costing less than $30 per month, and could potentially launch it in September. Talks are thought to have stalled though, the main problem rumored to be providers refusing to exclude some channels from a "skinny" content bundle.
Word came from CEO Mike Hopkins, speaking at today's Hulu Upfronts in New York, TechCrunch reported. The executive didn't offer many details, but promised the service would have channels from both broadcast and cable networks, including news and sports.
People will also have some access to on-demand content, Hopkins said. He didn't elaborate, however, on whether a live TV subscription would include the same catalog available to present-day Hulu subscribers.
Rumors have hinted that Hulu co-owners Disney and Fox will be the main content providers, with options including ABC, ESPN, and Disney Channel, plus Fox, Fox News, FX, and Fox's national and regional sports channels. Wall Street Journal sources indicated that another co-owner, NBCUniversal, hadn't agreed to license any channels, but Variety later said that "active negotiations" were in early stages. NBCUniversal could fill some critical gaps in Hulu's lineup, among them not just NBC itself but channels like MSNBC and Syfy.
More details will be revealed later in 2016, Hopkins added.
Pricing remains the biggest question. One Journal source suggested it would be close to $40 per month, but that might potentially kill interest given cheaper plans from Sling TV and Sony's PlayStation Vue, unless full on-demand content is attached.
Apple has allegedly been aiming at a service costing less than $30 per month, and could potentially launch it in September. Talks are thought to have stalled though, the main problem rumored to be providers refusing to exclude some channels from a "skinny" content bundle.
Comments
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-04/youtube-said-to-plan-unplugged-online-tv-service-for-2017
Hulu OTA service - $40 (Covers ABC, Fox, and maybe NBC if they work out a deal)
HBO or Showtime - $15
CBS All Access (Does not partake in Hulu and assuming it doesn't) - $7.00
Netflix or Amazon Prime - $15.00 or so
Local Sports network not covered by Disney or Fox - $15 maybe
We're up to about $90/mo and that doesn't include other popular cable channels like TBS, TNT, AMC, History etc.
Not seeing how this winds up being a good deal for many people. Of course, some people watch next to nothing and wouldn't spend this much. Plus the user experience of finding and switching between different apps leaves a lot to be desired. Although universal search is getting better. I can see why Apple would stay out until there was a cost or user experience reason to cut the cord.
http://recode.net/2016/05/01/disney-fox-hulu-comcast/
"Disney and 21st Century Fox own two-thirds of Hulu and control its management. Comcast owns the other third of Hulu but doesn’t have a role in its management, because of rules Comcast agreed to follow when it bought NBCUniversal."
The profit made through Hulu goes directly to these companies, which would probably explain the pricing and why they'd rather do this via Hulu than other cheaper services that they don't control. Cable companies manage to hide the cost of content in high cable bills. They need lots of revenue for leverage in content deals and acquisitions like buying Dreamworks recently:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-dreamworks-anim-m-a-comcast-idUSKCN0XP1XK
If you had 30m subscribers with gross margin of 70%, to buy out Dreamworks for $3.8b, you'd need $5.4b revenue from 30m people = $15/month. Hulu only has 12 million subscribers and each big company involved only owns a portion of the income. Once they grow the subscriber base then the subscription prices can lower.
The cable companies probably aren't against the idea of cable cutting as long as they can still make the same revenue. Being able to target more platforms with content allows them to expand their subscriber base, including internationally. People will still pay them for the internet connection. They just needed to do this in a way that protected their revenue.
Sounds like a very similar issue Apple was having. They'll eventually cave when more and more people stop paying hundreds of dollars per month for TV. There is a solution to this, networks just don't like it because they can't rake in the cash like currently do. I'm kinda lucky in my situation because I only have .99¢/month for 150+ HD Digital Cable channels, but where I used to live I was paying a hell of a lot more than that, and all just to watch a few channels.