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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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 ANALYSIS 
21

Comcast Weighs Charging Viewers for Hulu

Cable giant no fan of free site, and could soon own NBC's part of it

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(Newser) – Comcast is no fan of Hulu's business model, and the cable giant could soon own a stake in the site—which means trouble for fans of using it to watch TV shows free. Comcast is in talks with NBC to pool their entertainment offerings in a joint venture that would include NBC’s various channels along with 30% of Hulu, the Los Angeles Times explains. Comcast would control the new company, and analysts think it would push Hulu to change.

“It would accelerate the inevitable path of Hulu to charge for its premium content,” said one media analyst. Comcast has made no secret of its disdain for Hulu’s free model. “If I am any one of these programmers…and 50%, 60%, 70% of my business comes from subscriptions, I want to think long and hard before I just put that content out there for free,” its CEO said in May.

Shown is a screen shot of the Hulu.com Web site.
Shown is a screen shot of the Hulu.com Web site.   (AP Photo/Hulu.com)
In this screen shot taken from Hulu.com, an episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is shown as it is streamed on Hulu.com.
In this screen shot taken from Hulu.com, an episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is shown as it is streamed on Hulu.com.   (AP Photo/Hulu.com)
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21 comments
VIEWING:
 
Silverbow7
Oct 5, 09 3:32 PM CDT
What took you so long you greedy jerks? Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
+8
odowd80
Oct 5, 09 3:34 PM CDT
How is Hulu any different than watching over-the-air television? Advertising pays the bills. Hulu viewers are not suddenly going to pay for the programs they've been watching, they'll just go to a different free site. Or, they'll start grabbing pirated episodes. Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
+13
IN RESPONSE:
Timinator2K
Oct 5, 09 4:45 PM CDT
Comcast and others of their greasy grimy gopher guts ilk, are the greedy filthy bastards who give capitalism a bad name....ALWAYS looking for the short-term buck and wondering how the long term got screwed over.
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0
IN RESPONSE:
Legacy
Oct 5, 09 6:12 PM CDT
Hulu makes a big difference for many people who live outside the radius of the channels. In Puerto Rico we have to have cable and pay extra to watch NBC, ABC,etc...
Vote up! Vote down!
+1
drlarrymitchell
Oct 5, 09 3:35 PM CDT
If Hulu starts charging, people will stay away in droves. Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
+18

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