Step one: Infiltrate our atmosphere by disguising themselves as smug Fox animation moguls. Step two: Have the Visitors star in aggressive TV marketing campaigns touting their free, online content distribution system. Step three: Eat our brains. Step four: Charge us for the service. NOW WAIT JUST ONE SECOND. I was totally fine with the whole Hulu business model when all I had to do in exchange for watching missed episodes of The Office was sit through a few ads and have my brains sucked out of my ear by an alien.
But now recently instated News Corp Deputy Chairman/ beloved Pringles mascot Chase Carey suggests that the service -- a joint venture of News Corp, NBC Universal and ABC Inc. -- will begin migrating over to a subcription-based system as soon as 2010. Talking to Broadcast & Cable's OnScreen summit, he said: "I think a free model is a very difficult way to capture the value of our content. I think what we need to do is deliver that content to consumers in a way where they will appreciate the value. Hulu concurs with that, it needs to evolve to have a meaningful subscription model as part of its business."
Have you no shame, Hulu aliens?
ยท Chase Carey: Hulu to Charge in 2010 [B&C]