Hulu management has discussed recasting Hulu as an online cable operator that would use the Web to send live TV channels and video-on-demand content to subscribers, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The new service, which is still under discussion, would mimic the bundles of channels now sold by cable and satellite operators. In other words, Hulu might wind up being an online way of getting linear TV content. Some people might see that as some sort of failure. Others might see it as something else. Much will depend on how the partners structure the end user deal.
If Hulu is tied to existing linear subscriptions, one set of revenue models and value will be offered. It will be useful to watch one's paid-for linear content on devices other than the at-home TV, but beyond that Hulu will simply represent another "TV Everywhere" sort of initiative.
If Hulu acts like an over-the-top cable subscription, there are other possibilities, depending on whether users have more, or less, control over which "channels" they want access to. Hulu might then offer a bit more discrete control over packages, compared to standard multichannel video packaging into a few broad tiers.
It might be asking too much for the new approach to deviate too much from the typical cable approach. But an over-the-top approach, largely disconnected from a "geographic" requirement (where you have to buy a fixed network service to get the mobile content), would still be interesting.
Hulu Reworks Its Script as Digital Change Hits TV - WSJ.com (subscription required)
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