I don't have a TV. I haven't had one for over two years and I don't miss it, not one bit. During the holidays, when I'm home visiting my family and I turn on my parent's TV, I really can't seem to stay engaged for more than 30 minutes (if at all). I don't like the commercials that don't pertain to my interests; I don't like that I have little choice about what I can watch at any given moment; and I don't like that the remote always seems to get lost. The conventional television experience: It's antiquated and I hate it. However, you'll find that in spite of my lack of TV, I still manage to religiously follow about 6 primetime television shows a week.
All thanks to Hulu.
If I've never been addicted to the TV, it's because I'm addicted to my computer. So when I first heard about Hulu two or three years ago, my heart skipped a beat. Before, if I wanted to watch an episode of 30 Rock or The Office, I downloaded a torrent or waited until it came out on DVD. Now, my favorite shows are right there in my browser and I can watch them, pause them, rewind them and fast-forward them whenever I want.
It's genius.
Forget about waiting until DVD release or illegally (and unrightfully so) downloading them. Now we have the option to watch our shows online, on demand and with customizable ads in between breaks. It's a win-win: I ask Hulu to hide any commercials I don't want to see, and in return marketing has information that will help to more accurately target other ads at me. It's an excellent example of a marketing-oriented strategy: They fully understand that the customer does not hate ads and in fact, welcomes them so long as they are less "in your face" and more customizable. It's target marketing on steroids.
Oh, and by the way... If you missed this year's Superbowl ads, or want to see them again, head on over to the Hulu AdZone, where you can watch and rate the latest ads.
See what I did there?
I love that the Daily Show is coming back to Hulu. Engadget (http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/02/hulu-ceo-welcomes-back-the-daily-show-and-more-from-viacom-lays-o/) has a nice post that shares some of Hulu's increasing ad revenue - I can't understand why it isn't even higher? Broadcast TV commercials are so often skipped by DVR users or the breaks are long enough that people wander out of the room. Hulu, as you mentioned engages the audience, or at least me, and the breaks are short enough that folks don't have time to get out of their seats. It is a win win as far as I can see.
ReplyDeleteI think that Hulu is an ingenious idea especially for people like you who do not watch regular T.V. all the time. Most shows on Hulu are free but also you can sign up for a small amount of money to get the full Hulu experience. I think that Hulu is so smart because most people are too busy to watch their shows on the regular nights and times, so having the ability to watch them any time they want is so smart. I have used Hulu a bunch of times because most of my favorite shows are on Thursdays and having the computer at my finger tips and able to watch it whenever I have a spare 20 minutes makes entertainment so much easier.
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