Hulu’s former ad chief joins Jason Kilar’s new stealth startup
Just three weeks after announcing his departure from Hulu, the company’s SVP of advertising is joining the Fremont Project, the stealthy startup headed by Hulu’s former boss.
Just three weeks after announcing his departure from Hulu, the company’s SVP of advertising is joining the Fremont Project, the stealthy startup headed by Hulu’s former boss.
http://variety.com/2013/digital/news/why-hulu-doesnt-have-an-ad-free-service-like-netflix-yet-1200668184/
Hulu has long insisted that it is less like Netflix and more like cable, giving viewers the option to watch current shows, but also showing them ads, even if they pay for the company’s Hulu Plus subscription service. But the company may be introducing an ad-free tier in the future: Hulu’s interim CEO Andy Forssell said at a Goldman Sachs conference this week that Hulu may give viewers an option to pay more for an ad-free experience, according to a Variety report. How much more are we talking? According to the report, Hulu generates about $7 of ad revenue for every Hulu PLus subscriber.
More than four million people now pay to access Hulu Plus streams, and all of that streaming shows: The site registered more than one billion streams across its free and paid service in Q1.
Hulu has a new CEO — for now, anyway: SVP of Content Andy Forssell will take over as acting CEO when Jason Kilar leaves by the end of the month.
The company hasn’t reported Hulu Plus subscription data since revealing that it hit the 2 million mark earlier this year. Of course, with Hulu presenting its new originals and foreign acquisitions to TV critics Tuesday in Beverly Hills, having a hit series wouldn’t hurt subscriber growth.
Will the next big TV show debut on Hulu? The site is establishing itself as a kind of testbed for TV content, producing exclusive content that then finds it way to traditional broadcasters. The latest example is a distribution deal with media powerhouse Fremantle.
The acclaimed British series Misfits couldn’t find a home on American networks. But that didn’t stop Hulu, which will be airing not just the first two seasons of the cult hit this summer, but the third season this fall when it premieres on British television.
Hulu finally is announcing (confirming, in many cases) its senior team:
— Jean-Paul Colaco, SVP-advertising, responsible for advertising…