Providing Market Intelligence for 40 Years

In The News

Hulu Adds (Mostly) Ad-Free Subscription Service

Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins chalked up the exceptions to rights held by studios on select series. “They have other commitments that they couldn’t free them up for a complete commercial-free offering,” he said, adding that the service will clearly delineate the exceptions to users before they stream those series.

Other series that will have pre-roll include four ABC series: “How to Get Away with Murder,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Once Upon a Time,” “Agents of SHIELD,” and an NBC series, “Grimm.”

Hulu is making the move in response to subscriber complaints voiced in various forms of consumer research about having to pay yet still watch ads. Earlier this month, a Parks Associates survey found that half of Hulu subscribers have canceled service over the past 12 months, compared to just 9% for Netflix over the same span.

The new subscription option brings Hulu in line with its commercial-free rivals Netflix, which remains several dollars cheaper than Hulu depending on which rate its own subscribers pay, and Amazon Prime, which charges $99 per year for access to its content library in addition to free two-day shipping.

From the article "Hulu Adds (Mostly) Ad-Free Subscription Service" by Andrew Wallenstein. 

Previously In The News

Roku's early success magnifies Blue Apron, Snap failures

Investors are still apparently eager for more as the company continues to pivot toward a services-based model from its current focus making boxes for streaming television—a focus that, so far, has bee...

Percentage Of TV Antenna Households Doubles

The percentage of U.S. homes getting live TV channels through antenna has nearly doubled since 2013, to 15 percent of homes in 2016, according to Parks & Associates. Several factors contributed to the...

Report: Broadband Users Will Drive Solar In 2017

That news comes out of a new report from research firm Parks Associates in its 360 View Update: Energy Management, Smart Home, & Utility Programs. In further good news for the solar industry, the repo...

Super Bowl Commercials: Check Out All The Best Ads From Sunday

The game has set audience records four times since then, the last being Super Bowl XLIX, watched on NBC by 114.4 million viewers in 2015. Below are all the ways you can tune in. Denver-area resi...