Online TV service Hulu has been free and ad-supported ever since its launch, although recently it’s also introduced a paid premium tier. However, it seems the startup is facing pressure to change its model… from its co-owners. The Wall Street Journal says that News Corporation and Disney may pull some of their content from Hulu’s free service due to – stop us if you’ve heard this one before – fears that it’s cannibalising revenues elsewhere. Except this isn’t as much about free streams cannibalising digital sales: in the TV industry, the problem is more about free streams reducing the revenues from other distribution partners, such as cable networks. Concern that a ‘cord cutting’ culture is emerging where people give up on cable to get their content from the internet appears to be spooking Hulu’s owners.
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Tools: Kaiber
In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…