Dive Brief:
- Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins believes third-party measurement, like the kind Neilsen or comScore offers, will improve ad revenue for the streaming video service.
- At the same time he cites YouTube and Facebook as two companies not hampered by lack of third-party measurement for video ad success.
- Hulu now offers an $11.99 monthly ad-free plan to go along with its $7.99 ad supported version, and Hopkins expects subscriber revenue to become the majority of the service’s revenue.
Dive Insight:
Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins told Variety that the streaming video company is being “aggressive in terms of driving new business” and that third-party measurement is a needed element to improve Hulu’s ad revenue. He said, “The reason (more) money hasn’t flowed to Hulu … is because the data doesn’t come from a third party. We will find ways to get the data properly conjoined.”
Hopkins also pointed out that Hulu has an advantage over traditional TV ads with the ability to serve one-to-one ads to specific demographics.
About the new ad-free pricing tier, Hopkins told Adweek, "What we've heard loud and clear is that some segment of our customers would like us to offer a commercial-free plan at a higher price, and so that's what we're doing,” and added, "This is not our exit from the ad business by any stretch. Advertising will continue to be central to our business."
The move allowed Hulu to match competitors Netflix and Amazon Prime that already exist completely ad free. As of September, Hulu had 9 million subscribers; Netflix, for comparison, at that same time had 65 million.
