Hooray for Hulu

You can’t teach an old dog new tricks, or so they say. I’d like to think of myself as pretty digitally savvy, however, I can’t break my habits of taking in programming the traditional way. I have watched online video on Hulu before, and while I appreciate its convenience and value, I am hooked on watching my favorite shows on TV (even if via tivo). There’s something to be said about coming home after a long day and unwinding in front of the tube. For me, I just don’t get that same experience watching The Office on a small computer screen.

Presently, I don’t think that offering free content on sites like Hulu takes away from the $120 billion television market. There will always be people like me who prefer to take in programming on TV over the internet. That said, trends are changing and there is a whole new generation who relies primarily on the internet to consume video content. In fact, I have encountered several individuals at UW who don’t even own a television (unimaginable to me, however, this is becoming the new norm). Moving forward, it will be crucial that content producers reach the viewers where they spend most of their time. Since eyes will be shifting away from television, commercial dollars will decline, forcing the networks and content producers to get more creative with their business models.

I don’t think that charging for Hulu is a video apocalypse, especially to their fans who find tremendous value in their service. Similar to how consumers are willing to pay a fee to access content via cable, DVR, premium channels, iTunes, etc. they will adjust to the concept of paying for online video content. I think that most regular viewers would be fine paying a small fee, rather than lose the service all together, or be bombarded by excessive advertisements, which would be the alternative route for Hulu to stay afloat. The key is to build a community of loyalists, now, while the service is free, who will stick with Hulu, despite commoditization, rather than look elsewhere on the web for content that may suffer in convenience and quality.