Nielsen Online’s VideoCensus indicates that in February, building a social network!”
It feels like a long time since we’ve been reporting on every engine and AdAge reports that television shows online command $40 to $50 per thousand viewers.
And Hulu admits that this is the thinking behind the social network:
“From an ad perspective, this is about bringing users to Hulu and having them spend more time on the service,” said J.P. Colaco, Hulu senior VP-sales.
The point here is to encourage users to spend time on Hulu itself, rather than third-party distributors such as Yahoo TV and TVGuide.com. Hulu gets a higher percentage of the gross advertising sold against viewers on Hulu (30%) vs. those watching Hulu on partner sites such as Comcast’s Fancast or TVGuide, which take a 10% cut. Community functions will also keep viewers around longer, and allow Hulu to show them more ads.
Go ahead and rag on Hulu for being concerned about money instead of fostering a community—but I, for one, applaud Colaco & co. Thank you for being honest and not sugarcoating this.
I think it’s a pretty good idea—visit any cable or network television website and look at their message boards to see that people do want to connect about their favorite shows. It doesn’t hurt that it is planned to help Hulu’s bottom line—because let’s face it, if online TV shows aren’t profitable, no matter how much people want them, they’re going to go away.
What do you think? Are you ready to socialize with your fellow Hulu viewers?
Suggest a Correction
Found an error or have a suggestion? Let us know and we'll review it.
No comments yet. Be the first to comment!