Making Hulu A Must-Have
Two words: live sports
While it has been years since I cancelled my cable television subscription, I’ve never felt the urge to subscribe to Hulu’s premium option. One big reason is the very same reason I hate cable: they want me to pay for a service and yet still be served advertising?
So the rumors of Hulu’s new “NOAH” (‘No Ads Hulu’) service intrigues me. It’s no longer a double-dip business model; it’s a single-dip one. Yes, it’s likely to cost more ($12 to $14/month versus $8/month), but I’d welcome the option to pay something not to have to sit through commercials.
And yet, I still doubt I’ll sign up for the simple reason that Hulu offers me very little (if any) must-have content. This, of course, is a matter of personal taste. But there’s a reason millions are eager and ready to pay $15/month for HBO Now — one channel — but many will likely balk at this higher-priced Hulu, with many channels. HBO tends to have higher quality content — or, at the very least, more must-have content, like Game of Thrones.
So what could Hulu offer to make it a must-buy? Well, beyond urging their content partners to focus on higher quality content, it’s pretty simple: sports.
The three networks that collectively own Hulu all have various deals to display major sporting events for the different leagues. What they undoubtedly don’t have is the right to broadcast these digitally on services like Hulu. But they should try to get those rights.
Imagine a Hulu NOAH service that offered no-commercial on-demand content and live sporting events from their content partners. Sold.
Better yet, this could allow Hulu to have it both ways. For anything watched live, Hulu could still serve up ads/commercials. Hard to imagine any viewer protesting this too much.
I know this is much harder than it sounds with all the regional rights, etc. But given the major network/conglomerate partners involved in Hulu, I’m sure they could figure out a way to make it work.
One hiccup in this plan is the other major network that has always been absent from the Hulu roster: CBS. Like the others, that network has deals with the various sports leagues for certain games. Notably, that includes a slew of NFL games — including, some years, the Super Bowl.
Another hiccup is ESPN, which increasingly controls rights to major sporting events. But, that’s a whole other topic. The Hulu option above with NBC, ABC, and Fox on board would still cover a lot of ground.
Seems like a no-brainer to me. And probably millions of others. Another step towards a cable-less world.
