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As the world had has become more digital, so has most industries. As well as digital music, there are now eBooks, digital movies and TV shows. The latter of these, movies and TV shows, seem to be an industry which has taken extremely well to the digital era. That said, most people no longer buy movies and do not exactly rent them either. Instead, it seems the option of choice is to subscribe to a video service and have a monthly allowance of content that you can watch without paying any additional fees. Netflix being the obvious and most well-known supplier of such a service.
That said, Hulu, has been making its mark recently and for good reason. Unlike Netflix or Amazon, Hulu has taken a slightly different approach to the industry and instead of just charging a monthly fee (which they do) for their Plus service, Hulu has also included ads in their content too. Therefore, watching any program on Hulu does mean you have to sit through an occasional advert. In fairness though, the number (and duration) of the ads are much shorter than you would encounter on actual TV stations. The benefit of this dual monetizing approach is that they seem to have much newer TV shows, much quicker than any other subscription service. Not to mention, Hulu do offer a free service too although, this one is much more limited in what and how you can watch.
Well, it now seem that these might not be the only options available for Hulu customers soon. A report from the Wall Street Journal today states Hulu are working on a project dubbed ‘NOAH’ (No Ads Hulu). As the codename suggests, this option would allow users to watch content on Hulu but ad-free. Putting their service at a much more competitive standpoint with the likes of Netflix and Amazon. Of course, going the ad-free route with Hulu will not come cheap and the reports detail that Hulu are thinking of what the golden price will be which will entice users enough to pay, while also keeping the content providers happy enough with their cut. At the moment, the rumored price for such an ad-free service is being suggested at $12-14 per month. Although this might sound a lot (and especially compared to Netflix or Amazon), the idea is that both paid tiers will co-exist. Those who do not want ads can pay a premium while those who are happy to watch the ads can continue with the normal subscription charge. Both options are likely to satisfy the powers that be. For those interested, the new feature could launch as early as the Fall.