We’ve known Hulu has been doing well for traffic for a while now, but it hasn’t ever revealed any details pertaining to its finances before. Until now.
But while it may already be profitable, Hulu is still looking at introducing a subscription-based model in addition to its advertising-based one. And an iPad app could be just the thing it needs.
Hulu
has now been with us for over two years after launching fully in early 2008. Traffic has risen steadily in that time, with the one billion videos streamed milestone being reached in December 2009.
Its success is hardly surprising as here is a free service offering premium television shows to everyone in the U.S., and with a finely-tuned user interface, and few enough adverts to keep viewers happy and watching.
Hulu Profitable, YouTube Not
YouTube’s quest to turn a profit have been well documented, and the Google-owned company is still unlikely to be bringing in enough revenue to cover the cost of being such a successful entity. It costs a hell of a lot of money to serve one billion video views a day.
But it’s now been revealed by CEO Jason Kilar that Hulu IS making serious money. He told The New York Times that revenue topped $100 million in 2009 and that figure will likely be reached by the summer in 2010. What’s more, Hulu turned a profit in both the last quarter of 2009 and the first of 2010. In other words, things are looking rosy.
Paid-For Hulu iPad App
That profit has been gained purely from Hulu’s free, advertising-based, but that isn’t stopping the company from forging ahead with its longterm plans to introduce a subscription option.
People familiar with Hulu’s future plans suggest a Hulu iPad app is on its way, and its this that will be used to test the subscription model.
Kilar wouldn’t confirm these plans but did say, “Typically media consumption in the house was confined to the living room or home office. Tablets allow consumers to serendipitously discover and consume media in every room of the house.”
Conclusions
I have no doubts a Hulu iPad app is on the way, and no doubts either that it will be available as part of a new subscription option. And with Hulu already profitable (and surely the envy of YouTube and others) the company’s future looks bright. Even with Viacom bailing.
