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Yahoo submits bid for Hulu

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Re: Yahoo submits bid for Hulu

#121
post #74
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not a ceo, but buying hulu looks like a good idea if they have the cash. Better than rolling out a new one from scratch. I would say simple business decisions may make a good businessperson.

You cant roll out a Hulu from scratch. It is basically a venture between content providers. How much TV content does Yahoo produce ? none. It is a huge mistake to buy Hulu. I dont know how much they'll be paying for this but it is worth 0 money, just like Tumblr.

It's not like the content providers are going to abandon a rather large channel with a lot of momentum.

Re: Yahoo submits bid for Hulu

#122
post #26

Holy cow. This is a big deal . There is no reason why TV networks need to exist the way they do. Hulu, Netflix and Amazon all produce original content and are perfectly positioned to disrupt them as their distribution volume increases. Even the current distribution channel is being disrupted by Aereo. Hulu is a a huge asset. If Yahoo gets in this game, they have a massive number of users, photos (flickr), blogposts (…

> Hulu, Netflix and Amazon all produce original content and are perfectly positioned to disrupt them as their distribution volume increases. Uhh, as a Hulu subscriber, I'll just let you know: If I only had "Hulu" content to pick from, I'd cancel my subscription immediately. It's not great stuff, barely worth paying for and CERTAINLY not worth both paying for and sitting through the same 4 advertisements over-and-over…

Man the "same 4 advertisements over-and-over-and-over" bothered the hell out of me as well. If you're going to do video ads, I'm fine with it, really, just don't make me listen to the same ones over and over for months.

Re: Yahoo submits bid for Hulu

#123
post #26

Holy cow. This is a big deal . There is no reason why TV networks need to exist the way they do. Hulu, Netflix and Amazon all produce original content and are perfectly positioned to disrupt them as their distribution volume increases. Even the current distribution channel is being disrupted by Aereo. Hulu is a a huge asset. If Yahoo gets in this game, they have a massive number of users, photos (flickr), blogposts (…

> Hulu, Netflix and Amazon all produce original content and are perfectly positioned to disrupt them as their distribution volume increases. Uhh, as a Hulu subscriber, I'll just let you know: If I only had "Hulu" content to pick from, I'd cancel my subscription immediately. It's not great stuff, barely worth paying for and CERTAINLY not worth both paying for and sitting through the same 4 advertisements over-and-over…

Right now yes. In the future, who knows.

It doesn't seem like this would go away though. Each of the big streamers are building a specific base set of streamable content.

Amazon is focused on newer films more so than Netflix and Hulu.

Hulu is focused on new television content, with some original programming from overseas shows mostly.

Netflix is focused on older television and movie content, with stronger original programming.

HBO Go will be new movies and strong original content.

Right now there is certainly room for all of these services... I think in the future its highly likely we'll see other channels make a stronger stream crossover (like Comedy Central, Food Network, ESPN, etc..) and we'll basically have content streaming channels. In that world, Netflix, Amazon and HBO GO are still strong, but Hulu might start loosing content or have stronger competition, and that could be problematic.

Re: Yahoo submits bid for Hulu

#124
post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never understood why people dislike the commercials so much. Most of their half hour (21 minute) shows only contain at most three minutes of commercials spread through the show. At worse you're sitting through a minute break from the show. People pay $100+ per month and seem to live through tens of minutes of commercials per show. Plus is about having device and HD access more than anything. I like it as I get f…

>I've never understood why people dislike the commercials so much. Speaking from a purely speculative and subjective opinion, it could be partially due to neurodiversity within the population. The root cause could be that differing clusters of people have differing cognitive processing abilities. For example, personally I despise commercials, because they break the flow, and force a context switch. Similarly, movemen…

As an anecdote, I cannot study in total silence. I find the silence extremely distracting. I must have the TV on in order for me to focus. Even the random noises in a cafe or a library helps my concentration. Some people call this white noise needed for concentration.

Re: Yahoo submits bid for Hulu

#126
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>users, photos (flickr), blogposts (tumblr), mail, content Other than content, arent those second rate internet properties though? Maybe thats their plan in order not to compete with google/amazon. (i know flickr is used by professionals, but instagram probably has more users)

Flickr has an estimated 87 million users [1], and Instagram has 100 million. Note sure what your definition of "second rate" is (quality or quantity?) but Flickr is much better quality than Instagram, especially after the recent update. Regarding email, Outlook, GMail, and Y! Mail are pretty much all tied at 290'ish million users worldwide, but Y! owns the top spot in the US [3]. Most of Y!'s media properties are #1…

I stand corrected

Re: Yahoo submits bid for Hulu

#127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never understood why people dislike the commercials so much. Most of their half hour (21 minute) shows only contain at most three minutes of commercials spread through the show. At worse you're sitting through a minute break from the show. People pay $100+ per month and seem to live through tens of minutes of commercials per show. Plus is about having device and HD access more than anything. I like it as I get f…

Commercials break the flow of the TV/movie that I'm watching. It's the same reason I don't watch the networks or cable TV. It's a Netflix life for me.

TV shows are written in "acts", they are designed to be broken up. Ads may be a horrible distruption (so I suggest muting them and blocking or averting from the images), but for a good TV experience, you should take a break for a minute to let the previous act sink in before watching the next act.

Re: Yahoo submits bid for Hulu

#128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have had a Hulu account for the last two years. I recently canceled it. Their content is actually not that good, and on top of it, you're forced to watch commercials as well. The service was terrible.

I've never understood why people dislike the commercials so much. Most of their half hour (21 minute) shows only contain at most three minutes of commercials spread through the show. At worse you're sitting through a minute break from the show. People pay $100+ per month and seem to live through tens of minutes of commercials per show. Plus is about having device and HD access more than anything. I like it as I get f…

Isn't it obvious? I don't want my time I slot for entertainment interrupted with shit that doesn't entertain me.

I don't subscribe to TV or Hulu or anything but Netflix for this very reason. I would cancel Netflix if they inserted ads. I would rather pay $50 a month for Netflix if that meant being ad-free.

Re: Yahoo submits bid for Hulu

#129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have had a Hulu account for the last two years. I recently canceled it. Their content is actually not that good, and on top of it, you're forced to watch commercials as well. The service was terrible.

That never really made sense to me either. If you're going to pay for hulu, you would expect to not have to sit through the commercials.

My understanding is that the Hulu subscription pays for fixed overhead (and profit), and the ads pay for marginal licensing. That might be a lie, though.

Re: Yahoo submits bid for Hulu

#130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That never really made sense to me either. It makes perfect sense. Money from subscriptions is good; extra money from ads is better. And as much as you or I dislike it, we're probably in a minority position here - if it was really cutting into earnings, they'd have cut it out by now.

Hulu having ads isn't about the money they make. It's about keeping ads as normal in peoples minds. If Netflix and Hulu and any other online only vod dropped all ads then people might start to resent ads, and seem them as abnormal. Then people will watch less network and cable TV, which need ads.

Most of Netflix doesn't have ads.
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