Network exec thinks Hulu is teaching bad habits
By Ben Drawbaugh 
posted Mar 29th 2009 5:29PM
posted Mar 29th 2009 5:29PM
If there was any doubt as to why the content owners asked Hulu to make life hard on Boxee, these recent comments by Rainbow Media's CEO Josh Sapan should pretty much clear it up. He tells Multichannel news that putting shows up on the internet shortly after they air on TV is doing nothing other than creating "bad habits." The article goes on to explain that the reason why you won't see as much of Rainbow Media's content online is because "such actions will eventually undercut the healthy advertiser/affiliate-fee dual revenue stream that networks enjoy" -- so you should have to pay for content and you should have to watch the ads. If at this point you're yelling about the all the ad-revenue generated when people view the same content on the web, according to NBCU president of TV Networks Distribution Bridget Baker "it's a drop in the bucket compared to ad revenue on linear cable channels." The interesting twist to their perspective is although these execs don't seem to understand that people actually prefer to watch TV, on their TVs, and not on small laptop screens, they do recognize that there is no stopping this movement. So their bright idea is to change the direction of the movement in their favor. The intent of the plan is to authenticate subscribers before allowing web access. So in other words, if you don't subscribe to cable TV, then don't expect access to the content on the web -- nice plan huh?
Well, in that case, we shouldn't be forced to watch commercials.
Haven't these CEO's ever heard of the term "barriers to entry"?
The content providers continue to erect these convoluted systems to deliver their products and then wonder why consumers shrug their shoulders and keep on walking.
Remember: keep it simple stupid.
People don't stop watching your broadcasts on cable because you "let" them develop "bad habits" via Hulu. These people haven't paid for cable for years and they aren't going back no matter how much you try to manipulate them to do so. Hulu brings them back into the paying fold.
The irony here is that this CEO naively still thinks that the content is theirs to control when in fact that particular genie got let out of the bottle years ago. Making it more difficult to access shows on Hulu by requiring a cable TV subscription means people will just look elsewhere.
Torrents, torrents, torrents!
And there are also people like me who don't do torrents. I am just as happy to wait till a show comes out on DVD and Netflix it. So I guess Netflix also is "creating bad habits" too because the thought of subscribing to cable TV just so I can stream a show that can already be watched in a variety of other ways for less money is absurd. This will be a net loss for this network, not a net gain.
These guys can't control us anymore with scarcity of their product yet they are still acting as if they can.
Not everyone gets their primary networks from cable or satellite transmissions. Why is OTA always overlooked? These same networks are mostly available for free OTA.
It is the on-demand and a la carte nature of the content streamed from Hulu, etc that makes the broadcast delivery model obsolete. Content providers need not be afraid, they can make this work in their favor; it is the middlemen, the delivery systems, that will be hurt or marginalized.
Jeez, just charge me $5.00 a month for Hulu and shut the hell up. I'm not going back to cable/dish period. I can hook up a vcr or dvd recorder to the OTA setup and record most of the things I am currently watching, or I can wait til they are out on netflix or on sale at itunes or amazon...not paying for cable.
"such actions will eventually undercut the healthy advertiser/affiliate-fee dual revenue stream that networks enjoy"
No, I say "such actions will eventually undercut the OBSOLETE advertiser/affiliate-fee dual revenue stream that networks enjoy". And that's fine, it's all part of technological evolution.
They can do whatever the hell they want. BitTorrent's got my back.
#1 i dont think anything that hulu has done is negative. screw the producers and all the other little morons. i am a subscriber and a very pleased one. these clowns should wake up and smell the roses. the only complaint i have is the run-a-round you people gave me in order to make a comment about one of your programs. christ, all i wanted to do is give you people a little praise. the documentary was buena vista social club. outstanding