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

CHeKT leads shifts to AI-driven security platforms

According to Parks Associates, more than half of security users suffer at least one false alarm, with 10 percent encountering five or more, putting the onus on municipal authorities to mandate verifie...

Alarm.com and the price of a signal that arrives in time

Parks Associates reported in 2026 that 19% of U.S. internet households had professionally monitored security systems and 7% paid for non-professional services such as alerts and video storage, with av...

Plume, Parks Associates study sheds light on ISP customer churn

The research paired Plume's platform telemetry with a consumer survey compiled by Parks Associates, including insights mainly from US subscribers.  The full white paper is available from Parks Asso...

Roku’s Price Hikes Expose the AI Boom’s Toll on Everyday Gadgets

Roku commands roughly 28 percent of the U.S. connected TV platform market, according to Parks Associates data cited by both The Next Web and The Desk. More than 100 million households worldwide rely o...