Comments on: Hulu growth stalling already?

By: Robert Seidman

Robert Seidman — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:12:47 +0000

Some Guy named John: the drop in unique visitors occurred from March to April, so I don’t think it had anything to do with season being over. We have not seen numbers for May or June yet, which may well show bigger drops.

By: Vetinari

Vetinari — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:10:03 +0000

As NBC gives up 5 hours a week of prime time to Leno you can count on that impacting Hulu. 5 dramas or other scripted shows in that timeslot would get more people to watch. But a variety show? Even if it’s good, it’s not something most people feel the need to catch up on if they missed it.

By: chet

chet — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:08:44 +0000

my understanding is there is alot of back fighting amonst the “partners”
so i think this will kill them as they will prob go their seperate ways
they have no money making mode4l that they can all agree on
oh well when its gone back to torrent…
too bad i like hulu
need to fix a few things
streaming isnt always solid- and content changes often
which whats the deal with that?
or they dont have some missing episodes or even missing whole seasons of some shows
again whats the deal with that too..
annoying seeing the same commercial 4 times in a row anyway…

By: Some guy named John

Some guy named John — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:03:57 +0000

Hulu saw the drop because most shows for the season have ended. I assume most people went there to see shows they missed, like I do. With no new content there is no reason to show up.

And Robert S. How would hulu be able to identify if you are a cable TV subscriber. personally I thought the cable networks like USA and SciFi are already using ad revenue to produce their shows with Cable TV acting as a delivery tool. I would understand if Hulu started offering HBO or Showtime or On Demand that a fee would need to be picked up because these channels dont use commercials. Actually that might be great idea for Hulu, get HBO/Showtime/Stars/ETC. to have a pay deliver system. Great for poeple who dont want cable TV but might have broadband internet and want premium internet delivery..

By: Robert Seidman

Robert Seidman — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:36:23 +0000

I think the slew of article’s about Miller’s comments are more than a bit misleading. You won’t see Hulu charge soon. But for good reasons I believe what will ultimately happen (though I think it will take more than a year probably) is that Hulu and online sites will have to figure out whether you pay for cable or not and if you’re a cable subscriber receiving, for example USA Network and SciFi, you will continue to receive those shows on Hulu for FREE. But if you’re NOT a cable subscriber already receiving those shows, they will charge you for them.

By: chet

chet — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:01:42 +0000

might become pay soon

http://gizmodo.com/5278469/will-hulu-become-a-pay-service

By: squiggleslash

squiggleslash — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:19:21 +0000

Is anyone else experiencing what Dan’s experiencing?

I just plodded through fourteen episodes of Firefly, and didn’t experience any occasions in which I had to click anything (except, obviously, when I intentionally paused the video.) Even when Hulu came up with a “We can’t load this ad, disable your ad-blocker you leeching bar-steward” message (what’s the deal with that anyway? I didn’t have anything that would block their ads) Hulu would just sit there for thirty seconds and then continue, unprompted.

Either I got lucky, or Dan’s having a technical issue and it’d be interesting to see what’s causing it.

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:05:14 +0000

My hulu requires me to click to continue when I watch programming, it stops and waits for input, which is why I don’t use it regularly anymore.

The argument I am starting to make is that TV watching practices are different than Hulu watching practices and that if Hulu could simulate the flow of TV channels by predicting viewer preferences. (my hulu doesn’t do this, but that doesn’t mean other folks doesn’t) At that point, one could turn on the Hulu just like they turn on the TV. (a lot of this has been in other comments, so I may not have been as descriptive as I should have been originally).

By: squiggleslash

squiggleslash — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:22:41 +0000

Dan – not sure I understand you: What do you mean “click to continue ads”? Once I start a Hulu.com stream, I don’t need to click anything, it’s almost like watching TV except you can pause and move the cursor if you want to.

Hulu is considerably less disruptive than TV in practice as the ads are relatively infrequent and they’re usually less than 30 seconds long.

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:08:27 +0000

The problem is flow, Hulu disrupts it with click to continue ads. The performances of television viewership are not served well by the current interface design of Hulu. People who use a popcorn hour or whatever technology you like are already alright with decreased flow – flow is key to ubiquity, ubiquity is key to transform the behaviors of the public.

By: UH

UH — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 09:18:50 +0000

Yes Robert this is basically the problem with non US networks . I know that HULU is in contact with Endemol to have license for US about some contents from Endemol ( jeeeez I hope not only reality rubbish ) , even if UK based , Endemol is 49% owned form MEdiaset ( the Italian private network ) , for a lot of people this sound like an opportunity for HULU to arrive in Europe ( at least UK and Italy ) .

Since I know the very very “old” approach of Mediaset to Internet I fear we will have a Shitty HULU in Europe and this is a pity because they still do not understand that this approach will have as only result to make the P2P much stronger …

By: Doug

Doug — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 06:18:00 +0000

You should try the HD sometime, Julia. It’s amazing.

By: Robert Seidman

Robert Seidman — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 03:00:17 +0000

Hudson, if the Canadian networks who paid to license the rights to content wanted to make that content available via Hulu to Canadians, I’m sure Hulu would be happy to do it. It seems that most of the networks outside of the US (not just Canada) that have licensed the rights to US content for their local geographies don’t actually WANT to make the content available online.

By: Hudson

Hudson — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 02:53:56 +0000

Maybe they can gain more growth if they bring it over to Canada already.

By: Julia

Julia — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 01:28:52 +0000

Doug, the quality of the actual video on ABC is fine (though I see no difference between it and Hulu, but I never choose HD), it’s the playback/streaming that’s the problem.

By: Kalena

Kalena — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 01:18:22 +0000

It does not surprise me that there is a lull right now because the main tv season has ended. And there is not much a quality movie selection.

I absolutely love Hulu and am an avid user (1 to 2 hours a day). It is by far the best quality compared to anything available, including all the studios direct sites and rival Fancast. My biggest problem is with all sites that many of the programs are only available for six weeks.

I have used it on multiple work and home computers. The biggest difference I have noticed in viewing depends on things in the viewers control.

Is all the software and hardware on your computer up-to-date?
Not five years old. While everyday use of word processing and internet reading may be fine. Video streaming requires the latest and fastest technology. I recently had to get a new OS for my Mac because it couldn’t update the flash player (as well as other programs) to view online media.

Do you have the fastest internet connection?
If your company is promising you a certain amount of bandwidth make sure they are giving it too you.

Are there multiple users on your network?
This is especially important at home. Oftentimes there is not enough bandwidth to stream, if other family members or roommates are surfing the web.

By: UH

UH — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 23:47:13 +0000

That’s was my point on Chad comment , Robert . For a US citizen make no sense to be faster then light if not to say “yes we can ”

Different story is for European citizens ( much different ) but also in this case a European Hulu would be more then enough ( again with a good streaming quality and enough choices )

By: Doug

Doug — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 23:32:04 +0000

I’m the opposite, Julia. ABC works fine for me, and the video quality is superb. Hulu works well, but the quality is just average.

By: Robert Seidman

Robert Seidman — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 23:22:38 +0000

UH, “because we can” and impatience are the most likely reasons. If the show isn’t locally broadcast where you are, and you’re in a hurry to see it, P2P makes sense. But for the masses, streaming sites like Hulu have a much lower barrier to downloading via P2P.

One thing Comscore apparently doesn’t track (or wasn’t included in the info I saw) is the number of uniques who download via P2P per month. At least in the US, my guess is its not by a long shot anywhere near as many people who visited Hulu at least once a month.

By: UH

UH — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:48:23 +0000

Sorry Chad , but …. what’s the reason to download a show 30 minutes after it was aired ?
Are you a P2P user ?

By: Chad

Chad — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:20:01 +0000

Nothing was freakier than the Feed the Pig commercials they played during many of the shows.

I still believe the biggest problem is that they’re behind the “illegal” downloads. A new show airs the next day on Hulu, where the torrent is out in 30 min to an hour, faster for those on newsgroups. So I hear…

By: nkinsey

nkinsey — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:08:37 +0000

Amen, Riff.

By: Riff Rafferty

Riff Rafferty — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:52:24 +0000

That’s funny. Those disgusting commercials were actually the reason I stopped going there. It’s almost like they were designed by the same agency that does the Quiznos ads — except I think even the Quiznos ads are more appealing.

Note to ad agencies: I do not want to see Seth MacFarlane’s belly or Alec Baldwin sticking his tongue in another guy’s ear. Thank you very much.

By: johnthemon

johnthemon — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:47:15 +0000

I think they’ll start growing again once ABC joins up…when is that happening again?

By: UH

UH — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:34:58 +0000

Eh… this was my guess AD

By: UH

UH — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:34:04 +0000

HULU is an EXCELLENT idea ( I would love to have in Italy ) I’m just curious to know if the opportunity to have the freedom to watch you own tv on internet force to have a compromise in the quality of viewing …if this is the case I do not believe HULU will be able to change the habits of “regular tv viewer “

By: AD

AD — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:30:56 +0000

UH, the problem is in the trick

By: Doghouse Reilly

Doghouse Reilly — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:27:06 +0000

I use Hulu probably once or twice a week and the quality is always quite good. I watch the lower 360p versions rather than the better quality 480p and even with older shows the video is relatively crisp and clear and I rarely have to stop to let the buffer build up. I watched the most recent season of 24 on Hulu rather than FOX’s website and it looked great.

I don’t mind the commercials, to be honest, unless they aren’t lined up with the actual breaks in the episodes. I’ve watched episodes of The A-Team, Stargate: SG-1, The Dick Van Dyke Show and Welcome Back, Kotter. True, it is frustrating when certain episodes are not available (for example, there are perhaps a dozen episodes from each season of Welcome Back, Kotter but they aren’t in any order).

Hulu is free and I enjoy it.

By: UH

UH — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:23:38 +0000

Interesting …Julia , i tried to do in this way but I have understood that for “legal” reason you can buffer small portion of the streaming so after you are forced to pause again ….and this is a little bit annoying …but again , I could be due to reduced bandwidth in my case

By: Julia

Julia — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:19:47 +0000

UH, I usually like to pause it and let the buffer get to 100% (usually takes about 15 seconds or so), and it’s fine after that. Certainly more so than the ABC Player. For some reason, without fail, the video gets choppy after the first break.

By: UH

UH — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:15:36 +0000

I have a question for someone who regularly use HULU . Is the quality of streaming always fluid ?
I used a couple of time HULU but since I’m outside US I had to use a “trick” ( ) which most probably reduced my bandwidth …so is it good enough ?

By: chet

chet — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:11:56 +0000

i agree
also they are constantly changing content
something you were getting into and watching today might not be there tomorrow
also some things they dont havethe entire thing
ill cite babylon 5

By: R.G.

R.G. — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:08:38 +0000

B/C when watching the shows – they keep pausing and downloading 15 minutes into whatever your watching -it’s annoying….