1 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:12,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:15,440 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 3 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:18,560 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with iHeart Podcasts and how the 4 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:21,680 Speaker 1: tech are you? So? In our last episode, I covered 5 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:25,640 Speaker 1: the origins of Hulu, the streaming service that started off 6 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:30,200 Speaker 1: as a joint venture between NBC Universal and News Corp, 7 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:34,760 Speaker 1: two competing media companies. So we got up to twenty thirteen, 8 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:39,240 Speaker 1: which was a tumultuous year for Hulu. Jason Kayler, the 9 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:43,400 Speaker 1: original CEO for Hulu, the guy who really helped shape 10 00:00:43,479 --> 00:00:48,200 Speaker 1: what Hulu would become, left the company. His interim replacement 11 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:52,360 Speaker 1: would also leave before the year was over. Mike Hopkins, 12 00:00:52,479 --> 00:00:56,240 Speaker 1: who became the new CEO, had formerly been an executive 13 00:00:56,320 --> 00:00:59,040 Speaker 1: at Fox Networks Group, and so he came from the 14 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:04,280 Speaker 1: news course of the business. Other changes had also happened 15 00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:07,960 Speaker 1: by that point, right, So Disney joined newscre at NBC 16 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:12,000 Speaker 1: Universal and became a joint stakeholder in Hulu. This meant 17 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:15,160 Speaker 1: that three of the four broadcast companies in the United 18 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:19,440 Speaker 1: States were stakeholders. You had ABC, which was owned by Disney, 19 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 1: you had Fox, which was owned by News Corp. And Obviously, 20 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:27,119 Speaker 1: NBC Universal had NBC, so CBS was the only holdout. Also, 21 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:32,039 Speaker 1: Comcast would acquire NBC Universal, which in itself is a 22 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:36,280 Speaker 1: very complicated story. Comcasts first announced this deal in late 23 00:01:36,319 --> 00:01:39,960 Speaker 1: two thousand and nine. The initial part of this acquisition 24 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:44,160 Speaker 1: concluded in twenty eleven after a lot but arguably not 25 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:49,640 Speaker 1: enough scrutiny from regulators. But Comcast wouldn't get full ownership 26 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: of NBC Universal until General Electric divested its remaining stake 27 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:58,520 Speaker 1: in the company in twenty thirteen. These things are super complicated, 28 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:01,440 Speaker 1: but that's pretty much par for the course for media companies. 29 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:05,480 Speaker 1: If you look back over the corporate ownership history of 30 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:08,079 Speaker 1: any major media company that's been around for at least 31 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:13,040 Speaker 1: a decade, it gets messy. Anyway, Comcast becoming the new 32 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 1: corporate daddy to NBC Universal is why we will later 33 00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:20,320 Speaker 1: be talking about a showdown between Disney and Comcast toward 34 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:23,720 Speaker 1: the end of this episode. Another big change also happened 35 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:26,760 Speaker 1: in twenty thirteen that would impact the future of Hulu. 36 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:30,440 Speaker 1: On June twenty eighth of that year, news Core, which 37 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:34,359 Speaker 1: was the media empire of Rupert Murdoch, split in Twain. 38 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:39,480 Speaker 1: That is, newscrep would become two separate companies. Now, one 39 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:42,800 Speaker 1: of those companies, twenty first century Fox, would include the 40 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:47,640 Speaker 1: famous twentieth century Fox film studio, the Fox Television Networks, 41 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:51,960 Speaker 1: and a stake in National Geographic Newscrep would be the 42 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 1: publishing arm of the company. As part of this divestment, 43 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:01,919 Speaker 1: Newscrep transferred its stake in hul to twenty first century Fox. 44 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:04,560 Speaker 1: Now this is the reason we don't have to talk 45 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 1: about Disney, Comcast and newscre at the end of this episode, because, 46 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:12,399 Speaker 1: as I'm sure most of you are aware, Disney subsequently 47 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:15,560 Speaker 1: gobbled up twenty first century Fox in twenty nineteen, which 48 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:19,320 Speaker 1: means Disney slice of Hulu's high would just get bigger 49 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:22,120 Speaker 1: and bigger. But I'm getting ahead of myself, so Hulu 50 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:26,480 Speaker 1: was also changing outside of these big corporate maneuvers. The 51 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:29,880 Speaker 1: initial business model of Hulu was to offer up ads 52 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:34,560 Speaker 1: supported viewing of recent television episodes. So as a user, 53 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: originally you would go to the Hulu website, so you'd 54 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:42,520 Speaker 1: use a laptop or desktop PC and navigate to the 55 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:46,600 Speaker 1: Hulu website. Keep in mind, this is when smartphones are 56 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:50,080 Speaker 1: a brand new thing, so using a smartphone to navigate 57 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:54,000 Speaker 1: the web was still very new when Hulu launched officially 58 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:56,400 Speaker 1: in two thousand and eight. So you would use a 59 00:03:56,520 --> 00:03:59,520 Speaker 1: PC or laptop to go to Hulu's website and you 60 00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:02,640 Speaker 1: could watch a few of the most recent episodes of 61 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:07,200 Speaker 1: various television programs that were provided by content partners. Typically, 62 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 1: you could view the episode that had most recently aired 63 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 1: on TV anytime between the following day up to the 64 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:19,440 Speaker 1: following month. It all depended upon the actual agreement between 65 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:22,880 Speaker 1: the studio and Hulu. We'll talk about that again in 66 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:26,039 Speaker 1: a bit. You did not have access to the back 67 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:29,480 Speaker 1: catalog of episodes of any show, didn't matter what network 68 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:32,520 Speaker 1: it was on. You might be able to watch the 69 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:35,440 Speaker 1: most recent five episodes, and then on top of that, 70 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:38,920 Speaker 1: you could potentially have access to around half a dozen 71 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:42,599 Speaker 1: other episodes from across the entire history of a show, 72 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:45,600 Speaker 1: but you would have no control over which episodes those 73 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:48,640 Speaker 1: would be. So maybe you'd know for a show that 74 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:51,560 Speaker 1: had lots and lots of seasons, like ten or more seasons, 75 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:54,559 Speaker 1: you might have a couple of episodes from season four, 76 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:57,080 Speaker 1: and then maybe a couple from season six or whatever, 77 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 1: but they wouldn't necessarily connect to each other and wouldn't 78 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:02,279 Speaker 1: be able to say which ones you got to see. Now, 79 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:04,719 Speaker 1: just a little bit more backtracking before we continue on 80 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:07,200 Speaker 1: with our story, because there's some elements that I did 81 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:10,880 Speaker 1: not mention in the last episode. In twenty ten, Hulu 82 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:14,480 Speaker 1: had introduced Hulu Plus, a subscription based service that let 83 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 1: audiences access an entire season the most recent season of 84 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:24,000 Speaker 1: episodes for shows. So you could get access to a 85 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:27,919 Speaker 1: full season of episodes, not the entire history, but at 86 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:31,039 Speaker 1: least the most recent season if you were a subscriber, 87 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:34,000 Speaker 1: and it costs seven dollars ninety nine cents per month. 88 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:36,920 Speaker 1: Now I believe that on Monday's episode, I said nine 89 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:40,240 Speaker 1: dollars ninety nine cents. That's because I was pulling that 90 00:05:40,279 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 1: from other sources. And to be fair, Hulu has changed 91 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:48,039 Speaker 1: its pricing throughout its history, but the actual initial price 92 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:50,839 Speaker 1: when it launched was seven dollars ninety nine cents per month. 93 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:55,479 Speaker 1: This service was also ad supported, so customers still had 94 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:57,279 Speaker 1: to go through some ads in order to do this. 95 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:00,159 Speaker 1: So you're paying you know, essentially eight bucks a month, 96 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:04,039 Speaker 1: but you also still get ads. So analysts were predicting 97 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:07,599 Speaker 1: that this subscription model was going to fail because who 98 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:11,040 Speaker 1: the heck was going to pay to access television programming 99 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:14,479 Speaker 1: that otherwise they could get for free, although you didn't 100 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:16,279 Speaker 1: really get it for free. You got in return for 101 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:19,240 Speaker 1: whatever your cable or satellite package was, unless you were 102 00:06:19,240 --> 00:06:23,640 Speaker 1: actually using antenna to pick up over the air broadcast. Well, 103 00:06:23,839 --> 00:06:27,120 Speaker 1: it turned out that Hulu's method worked pretty well. It 104 00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:31,120 Speaker 1: did not go down in flames as the analysts were predicting. 105 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:34,479 Speaker 1: In twenty eleven, the service boasted it had hit a 106 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 1: million subscribers, and Kyler said that the service would bring 107 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:41,240 Speaker 1: in around two hundred million dollars after it had been 108 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:44,080 Speaker 1: launched for a year, the subscription service, that is, and 109 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:46,200 Speaker 1: that's a lot of money. But then Hulu was also 110 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:50,479 Speaker 1: spending a lot of money securing content partners, right because 111 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:54,560 Speaker 1: it wasn't just ABC and Fox and NBC that was 112 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:58,960 Speaker 1: providing content to Hulu. Hulu was securing licenses with lots 113 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:01,760 Speaker 1: of different content partners out there, and that cost money. 114 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:05,919 Speaker 1: Cable networks and providers were growing concerned that Hulu was 115 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 1: cannibalizing their audiences, and there was a lot of friction 116 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:13,640 Speaker 1: in the media space. So, for example, in twenty ten, 117 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:18,560 Speaker 1: newscre got into a serious tif with Cablevision, the cable 118 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:22,120 Speaker 1: provider these two companies were in a fundamental disagreement over 119 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:27,000 Speaker 1: retransmission fees. News Core was playing hardball and it ended 120 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:31,880 Speaker 1: up blocking Cablevision subscribers from accessing programming, and that included 121 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:36,680 Speaker 1: online programming. So if you were a Cablevision ISP customer 122 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:39,000 Speaker 1: and you tried to go to Fox dot com to 123 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:41,600 Speaker 1: watch Fox material, or if you tried to watch Fox 124 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:45,160 Speaker 1: material on Hulu, you would get blocked, which made a 125 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:48,080 Speaker 1: lot of people mad. And it really made people angry 126 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: that they weren't able to access sports programming because the 127 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:56,800 Speaker 1: World Series of Baseball was coming up and Cablevision was 128 00:07:56,840 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 1: trying to hold out from having to pay higher retransmission. 129 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:05,360 Speaker 1: This one battle really just encapsulates a much larger story 130 00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:09,880 Speaker 1: of traditional media versus streaming media. And keep in mind, 131 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:14,040 Speaker 1: it's kind of funny because traditional media companies were the 132 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:18,400 Speaker 1: owners of the streaming service Hulu. So again, very complicated. 133 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:22,040 Speaker 1: Television had been king for decades, but the cord cutting 134 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:25,040 Speaker 1: trend was really emerging big time. It would only get 135 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:27,920 Speaker 1: worse down the line. Here's a fun side note. Around 136 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:31,120 Speaker 1: the same time, CNN reached out to me to comment 137 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:35,320 Speaker 1: on the trend of cord cutting. So I did I 138 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:39,080 Speaker 1: gave CNN some information about cord cutting and like the 139 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:40,720 Speaker 1: trends that were going on at the time and the 140 00:08:40,800 --> 00:08:44,240 Speaker 1: reason for those trends. And I got a talking too, 141 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:47,720 Speaker 1: because at the time, the company I worked for, house 142 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:52,319 Speaker 1: stuff Works, was owned by Discovery Communications, a cable channel 143 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:57,440 Speaker 1: company cable network company, and Discovery did not like that 144 00:08:57,520 --> 00:09:00,559 Speaker 1: I was talking about cord cutting, as if some how 145 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:04,839 Speaker 1: I was affecting cord cutting, as if I was responsible 146 00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:07,920 Speaker 1: for it. I was commenting on something that was happening, 147 00:09:08,040 --> 00:09:11,240 Speaker 1: whether I talked about it or not. And I'm pretty 148 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:13,800 Speaker 1: sure that I was not the reason A bunch of 149 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:16,160 Speaker 1: people suddenly said, you know what, You're right, it is 150 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:19,720 Speaker 1: time we stopped paying cable. So I still think it's 151 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:23,080 Speaker 1: funny that I was talked to about this and that 152 00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:26,480 Speaker 1: it was a whole thing because I'm like, you guys 153 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:29,080 Speaker 1: are treating me like I'm way more important than I am, 154 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:31,480 Speaker 1: and if I am this important, you need to pay 155 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:34,600 Speaker 1: me more. Right. That's the lesson you learned, is that 156 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:36,800 Speaker 1: if I'm important enough to be a threat to your business, 157 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:40,000 Speaker 1: I'm important enough for you to pay me more money. Anyway, 158 00:09:40,559 --> 00:09:43,040 Speaker 1: that was a tangent side note, doesn't really matter. The 159 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:47,320 Speaker 1: TV based businesses were desperately clinging onto a model that 160 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:50,600 Speaker 1: was just going out of style. Thus the talking to 161 00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:55,160 Speaker 1: I got so my personal opinion is that the decline 162 00:09:55,400 --> 00:10:00,040 Speaker 1: of broadcast and cable television was inevitable. That nothing that 163 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:03,760 Speaker 1: these companies did was going to stop that decline. It 164 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:06,240 Speaker 1: was just going to happen. So all they could really 165 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:08,840 Speaker 1: do is try and slow things down as much as 166 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:12,560 Speaker 1: they could, or to make things difficult on streaming platforms 167 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:16,199 Speaker 1: which were kind of in an investment and growth mode, 168 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:21,240 Speaker 1: or the traditional companies could try and create their own 169 00:10:21,280 --> 00:10:26,280 Speaker 1: strategies to segue into the streaming model, the internet based 170 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:30,120 Speaker 1: model of delivering entertainment. A lot of those media companies 171 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:32,920 Speaker 1: resisted that, or they tried to buy up companies that 172 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:36,280 Speaker 1: were kind of already doing that and use that as 173 00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:38,960 Speaker 1: their on ramp. Hulu itself was kind of an on 174 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:42,400 Speaker 1: ramp for that kind of thing. But because these streaming 175 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:45,319 Speaker 1: services were in investment and growth mode, it meant they 176 00:10:45,320 --> 00:10:47,880 Speaker 1: were not focused on making a profit at this time. 177 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:51,520 Speaker 1: That was not the main goal of the early years 178 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:54,280 Speaker 1: of these services. They were trying to establish a large 179 00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:58,040 Speaker 1: customer base and to scale as quickly as possible. This 180 00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:00,880 Speaker 1: was really bad news for the cable industry because it 181 00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:04,840 Speaker 1: meant that this new competitor was willing to operate at 182 00:11:04,880 --> 00:11:08,800 Speaker 1: a loss. Right, They were not operating with fear of 183 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:11,559 Speaker 1: how it was going to affect their profits because they 184 00:11:11,559 --> 00:11:15,679 Speaker 1: weren't profitable. They were operating at a way of gaining 185 00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:19,160 Speaker 1: new customers. But the cable industry was looking at a 186 00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:24,240 Speaker 1: shrinking customer base and angry shareholders. So they were in 187 00:11:24,280 --> 00:11:27,920 Speaker 1: a very different situation, and it was a pretty volatile situation. 188 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:31,520 Speaker 1: We're technically still kind of in that situation, but at 189 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:34,199 Speaker 1: this point, I think most folks acknowledged that cable TV 190 00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:39,000 Speaker 1: is seriously on the decline. In fact, you know, Kyler 191 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:43,560 Speaker 1: wrote an essay in twenty twenty three, the former CEO 192 00:11:43,679 --> 00:11:46,960 Speaker 1: of Hulu wrote an essay in twenty twenty three that revealed, 193 00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:50,679 Speaker 1: quote linear television declines at a rate of close to 194 00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:54,400 Speaker 1: ten percent per year in the United States end quote. 195 00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:58,920 Speaker 1: And further that quote, the median age for most entertainment 196 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:02,800 Speaker 1: shows was over sixty end quote. And that is the 197 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:06,240 Speaker 1: median age for linear television entertainment. So, if you've ever 198 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:09,160 Speaker 1: wondered why so many TV shows seem to cater to 199 00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:12,000 Speaker 1: the elderly. That's why the elderly are the ones who 200 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:15,080 Speaker 1: are still watching television in the first place. Kyler also 201 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:17,960 Speaker 1: said that out of all the streaming platforms in twenty 202 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:20,920 Speaker 1: twenty three, and there were a ton of them at 203 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:25,640 Speaker 1: that point, only Netflix quote is generating material cash flow 204 00:12:25,679 --> 00:12:29,160 Speaker 1: from streaming end quote. So Kyler wasn't saying that streaming 205 00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:32,160 Speaker 1: was a doomed business model, and I'll try to come 206 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:34,400 Speaker 1: back and touch on that. I just really wanted to 207 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:37,720 Speaker 1: establish the setting that Hulu was part of an early 208 00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:41,520 Speaker 1: wave of streaming services that were changing the way audiences 209 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:47,800 Speaker 1: access entertainment and ultimately how they would challenge the status quo. Okay, 210 00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:49,680 Speaker 1: we're going to take a quick break. When we come back, 211 00:12:50,000 --> 00:13:03,120 Speaker 1: we'll talk more about Hulu's evolution. We're back. So one 212 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:06,560 Speaker 1: thing that I failed to mention in the previous episode 213 00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:11,600 Speaker 1: was that Hulu was broadening its access. So again, originally 214 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:15,160 Speaker 1: when Hulu launched, it was a website full stop. And 215 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:17,679 Speaker 1: keep in mind, like Hulu launched in two thousand and eight, 216 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:20,480 Speaker 1: so iPhone comes out in two thousand and seven, we 217 00:13:20,559 --> 00:13:24,840 Speaker 1: don't really get the app store until two thousand and eight, 218 00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:28,320 Speaker 1: so we wouldn't get into a glut of smartphone and 219 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:32,080 Speaker 1: mobile device apps for a couple more years. The app 220 00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:35,120 Speaker 1: landscape was still kind of on the horizon when Hulu launched, 221 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:38,120 Speaker 1: so the one way you could access Hulu content was 222 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:41,040 Speaker 1: on a computer, though if you were willing to put 223 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:43,440 Speaker 1: in the work, you could technically use a television as 224 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:46,760 Speaker 1: a display and watch content on television that way, but 225 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:49,480 Speaker 1: that was kind of janky for most people. It was 226 00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:52,000 Speaker 1: beyond the reach of a lot of folks. They would 227 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:55,679 Speaker 1: wait until there would be more integrated solutions, either with 228 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:59,920 Speaker 1: streaming boxes or with smart televisions or that kind of thing. 229 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:03,640 Speaker 1: So you couldn't watch Hulu on television in the early days. 230 00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:06,360 Speaker 1: But a couple of years after launch, Hulu began to 231 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:09,600 Speaker 1: release apps and work with device manufacturers to make Hulu 232 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:14,120 Speaker 1: available through other devices, which would include smartphones and tablets 233 00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:17,040 Speaker 1: and over the top services as well as like video 234 00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:21,600 Speaker 1: game consoles and smart TVs. This wasn't straightforward, however, and 235 00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:26,520 Speaker 1: the experience could really leave customers frustrated because Hulu still 236 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:30,800 Speaker 1: had to secure agreements with all the different content providers, 237 00:14:30,840 --> 00:14:34,680 Speaker 1: of which there were many, so again, Hulu wasn't just 238 00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:38,080 Speaker 1: serving up stuff that could be found on ABC NBC 239 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:41,280 Speaker 1: and Fox, and not everyone would agree to all the 240 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:45,960 Speaker 1: terms and they would require specific exceptions. So for some shows, 241 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:50,400 Speaker 1: viewers might be allowed to access an episode on any 242 00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:54,000 Speaker 1: device running a Hulu app like it could be a computer, 243 00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:56,800 Speaker 1: a smartphone, it could be or television, doesn't matter. But 244 00:14:56,880 --> 00:15:00,480 Speaker 1: for other shows, viewers might only be restricted to the 245 00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:03,640 Speaker 1: web browser version on a PC. So it would be 246 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:06,120 Speaker 1: weird because you could log into Hulu on your computer 247 00:15:06,280 --> 00:15:08,960 Speaker 1: and watch a show like that, but if you were 248 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:12,040 Speaker 1: to pull up your Hulu app on a streaming service, 249 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:15,080 Speaker 1: like on a box connected to your television, that show 250 00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:18,720 Speaker 1: would not be there, and that was really confusing. Also, 251 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:22,240 Speaker 1: shows would have different premiere dates on Hulu. Some episodes 252 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:25,480 Speaker 1: premiered the day after they aired on television, some eight 253 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:28,560 Speaker 1: days after they aired, so the following week. Some had 254 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:31,360 Speaker 1: a delay of thirty days, so like a full month. 255 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:33,880 Speaker 1: And this was all over the place, and it meant 256 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:37,480 Speaker 1: that using Hulu was confusing. This was not the fault 257 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:42,120 Speaker 1: of Hulu, but because the powerful studios could command these conditions, 258 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:46,280 Speaker 1: they were the ones that were dictating the terms. They 259 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:49,960 Speaker 1: felt incentivized to do this because they were, you know, 260 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:53,640 Speaker 1: they were playing in a new space. Even shows that 261 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:57,720 Speaker 1: aired on one of the stakeholder networks on ABC or 262 00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:01,600 Speaker 1: Fox or NBC, they weren't immune to shenanigans either. So, 263 00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:04,600 Speaker 1: for example, The New York Times reported that The Middle, 264 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:08,320 Speaker 1: which was an American sitcom that aired on ABC, which 265 00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:11,360 Speaker 1: belonged to Disney, and Disney was a stakeholder, that show 266 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:14,720 Speaker 1: was not available on Hulu back in twenty eleven. But 267 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:17,960 Speaker 1: why I mean? Like I said, ABC was part of 268 00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:21,760 Speaker 1: the major stakeholders in Hulu, so what gives? Well, while 269 00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:25,720 Speaker 1: ABC would broadcast The Middle, the studio that actually made 270 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:28,960 Speaker 1: the show was Warner Brothers. So ABC had secured the 271 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:32,480 Speaker 1: rights to broadcast the show, but Warner Brothers made the show. 272 00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:36,080 Speaker 1: Warner Brothers declined to have The Middle available on Hulu. 273 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:40,160 Speaker 1: As to why, well, we can only speculate, but chances 274 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:42,440 Speaker 1: are it was an effort to protect the show so 275 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:44,880 Speaker 1: that it could make more money when it was put 276 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:49,320 Speaker 1: into syndication, because syndication is a very lucrative market for 277 00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:53,440 Speaker 1: first run shows. So chances are Warner Brothers didn't want 278 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:58,080 Speaker 1: to cannibalize syndication fees, and so they chose not to 279 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:01,520 Speaker 1: have that show available on Hulu. It was and still 280 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:04,480 Speaker 1: is complicated, in large part because of how young the 281 00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:08,120 Speaker 1: streaming business was. It was hard to know what would 282 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:11,960 Speaker 1: be important. Now, arguably, it wasn't hard to know what 283 00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:15,639 Speaker 1: was important to the audience. The audience wanted access to 284 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:19,080 Speaker 1: their favorite shows. They wanted it to be in a 285 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:22,200 Speaker 1: reasonable way where they're not waiting a month to get 286 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:25,119 Speaker 1: the next or the latest episode. They wanted it to 287 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:28,600 Speaker 1: be cost efficient so they're not spending ridiculous amounts of 288 00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:31,639 Speaker 1: money to do it, and preferably they'd like it to 289 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:35,679 Speaker 1: come along without an overabundance of ads. But for the 290 00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:39,400 Speaker 1: cable companies, you know, the channels, the studios, the TV shows, 291 00:17:39,880 --> 00:17:43,159 Speaker 1: Hulu itself, all the media companies that were part of this, 292 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:47,280 Speaker 1: things were less clear. So the negotiation process was a long, 293 00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:50,720 Speaker 1: complex and often it was unique from case to case, 294 00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:54,320 Speaker 1: so it was a huge hassle. Honestly, it's a miracle 295 00:17:54,359 --> 00:17:58,120 Speaker 1: that Hulu was able to persist at all, particularly when 296 00:17:58,119 --> 00:18:02,240 Speaker 1: you consider that ultimately the corporate owners are competitors with 297 00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:05,080 Speaker 1: each other other. Stuff that was going on outside of 298 00:18:05,119 --> 00:18:08,080 Speaker 1: Hulu would also have a major impact on the general 299 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:11,800 Speaker 1: landscape as well. Amazon's digital video offerings were picking up 300 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:15,639 Speaker 1: steam despite the company changing the service multiple times. So 301 00:18:16,040 --> 00:18:20,480 Speaker 1: Amazon started with a service called Amazon Unbox where you 302 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:22,520 Speaker 1: could buy a digital copy of a movie and then 303 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:25,640 Speaker 1: you downloaded it. You weren't streaming it, you were downloading 304 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:28,560 Speaker 1: it to your computer to watch later. But this would 305 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:32,720 Speaker 1: eventually become Amazon Video on Demand. Then it became Amazon 306 00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:36,800 Speaker 1: Instant Video, and then it became Amazon Prime Video, but 307 00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:39,840 Speaker 1: from Amazon Video on Demand. Further, it was pretty much 308 00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:45,040 Speaker 1: the streaming model, so the streaming options were really going on. 309 00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:48,399 Speaker 1: By twenty eleven, Amazon Prime members would get access to 310 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:51,280 Speaker 1: Basic Prime Video service as part of their membership, and 311 00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:55,399 Speaker 1: that boosted things considerably for that service. Also in twenty eleven, 312 00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:58,400 Speaker 1: Voodoo announced that it was launching its own streaming service. 313 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:01,760 Speaker 1: We would also get Twitch in twenty eleven as a 314 00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:05,920 Speaker 1: spinoff of Justin TV now. Twitch was and is more 315 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:10,480 Speaker 1: focused on user generated content, primarily centered around gaming, but 316 00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:14,600 Speaker 1: not exclusively, so you are not supposed to rebroadcast stuff 317 00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:18,840 Speaker 1: like television and films on Twitch. But Twitch is important 318 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:22,160 Speaker 1: because while it didn't directly compete with Hulu as far 319 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:25,400 Speaker 1: as content goes right, it's two different types of content. 320 00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:28,000 Speaker 1: It does compete with Hulu when it comes time to 321 00:19:28,119 --> 00:19:31,480 Speaker 1: talk about where are customers spending their time and money. 322 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:33,840 Speaker 1: If they're doing it on Twitch instead of Hulu, well 323 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:36,960 Speaker 1: then Twitch is still a competitor, even though you would 324 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:41,080 Speaker 1: argue they're not in exactly the same business. Cable channels 325 00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:43,960 Speaker 1: and providers were also creating on demand viewing options for 326 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:46,760 Speaker 1: customers around this time. So, for example, in twenty ten, 327 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:51,440 Speaker 1: HBO introduced HBO Go. This would let HBO subscribers access 328 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:55,879 Speaker 1: on demand HBO programming through a website, app, or digital 329 00:19:55,920 --> 00:19:59,040 Speaker 1: media player. Customers had to first authenticate that they were 330 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:02,280 Speaker 1: in fact a pay being subscriber to an HBO package 331 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:07,160 Speaker 1: in their cable television service, then they would be able 332 00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:11,480 Speaker 1: to access this content online. Cable providers were doing similar stuff, 333 00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:14,719 Speaker 1: allowing customers to authenticate their identity and then access a 334 00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:18,240 Speaker 1: suite of content online. So the streaming industry was starting 335 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:22,200 Speaker 1: to coalesce, but it was taking different pathways depending upon 336 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:25,800 Speaker 1: who was behind the service. But now let's skip ahead 337 00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:28,840 Speaker 1: a couple of years. So Hopkins had taken over as 338 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:31,879 Speaker 1: CEO at the end of twenty thirteen. The next really 339 00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:34,760 Speaker 1: big development in Hulu's history, besides the fact that they 340 00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:39,159 Speaker 1: would launch more original content, would come in the summer 341 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:42,600 Speaker 1: of twenty fifteen, and that's when Hulu announced that customers 342 00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:46,199 Speaker 1: could pay to access a premium ad on channel. The 343 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:50,320 Speaker 1: first premium ad on channel Hulu would offer would be Showtime. 344 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:54,120 Speaker 1: Now this is interesting from a corporate standpoint because once 345 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:57,720 Speaker 1: again there's a lot of dramatic stuff happening behind the scenes. 346 00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:01,719 Speaker 1: You know, forget shows like Dexter or Penny Dreadful that 347 00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:06,040 Speaker 1: were on Showtime, The really juicy drama was happening in 348 00:21:06,119 --> 00:21:11,560 Speaker 1: corporate boardrooms. So Showtime falls under the corporate umbrella of CBS. 349 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:14,920 Speaker 1: And if you recall, CBS was the one major broadcast 350 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:17,600 Speaker 1: network in the United States that was not a partner 351 00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:20,920 Speaker 1: in Hulu because you had NBC, Fox, and ABC, which 352 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:24,760 Speaker 1: again was owned by Disney being the stakeholders of the company. 353 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:27,520 Speaker 1: CBS had tried to go its own way, first with 354 00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:31,360 Speaker 1: TV dot Com and then in twenty fourteen, CBS launched 355 00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:35,960 Speaker 1: CBS all Access. In twenty twenty one, CBS all Access 356 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:41,040 Speaker 1: would transform into Paramount Plus. Again, the streaming world is 357 00:21:41,119 --> 00:21:43,840 Speaker 1: it's despite the fact that the streaming services world is 358 00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:47,280 Speaker 1: fairly young, it's not even really more than like twenty 359 00:21:47,359 --> 00:21:51,480 Speaker 1: years old. It's incredibly complicated and confusing, especially here in 360 00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:54,880 Speaker 1: the United States. So for CBS to agree to license 361 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:58,280 Speaker 1: showtime content to Hulu as a premium add on was 362 00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:01,280 Speaker 1: an interesting move. Customers who I wanted this add on 363 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:04,320 Speaker 1: would have to bump up their subscription fee and additional 364 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:07,080 Speaker 1: eight dollars ninety nine cents per month, which is interesting 365 00:22:07,119 --> 00:22:09,399 Speaker 1: because that meant the add on costs more than the 366 00:22:09,600 --> 00:22:13,440 Speaker 1: basic Hulu service of seven dollars ninety nine cents. However, 367 00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:16,919 Speaker 1: it did cost less than it would cost customers if 368 00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:21,040 Speaker 1: they got Showtime service through a device partner, because that 369 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:24,240 Speaker 1: fee was set at ten dollars ninety nine cents. Are 370 00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:28,040 Speaker 1: you confused yet because I am. Anyway, this seemed to 371 00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:31,879 Speaker 1: be an indication that the entrenched old media was becoming 372 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:35,520 Speaker 1: concerned about the future. You know, maybe putting up staunch 373 00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:39,639 Speaker 1: resistance to streaming wouldn't work. Maybe it really was inevitable 374 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:41,880 Speaker 1: that streaming would at the very least take a big 375 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:45,840 Speaker 1: old chunk out of TV's numbers, and so media companies 376 00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:49,320 Speaker 1: were starting to hedge their bets a little bit. In 377 00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:54,040 Speaker 1: September twenty fifteen, Hulu would introduce a new option to subscribers, 378 00:22:54,359 --> 00:22:57,320 Speaker 1: So for twelve dollars a month, you could get your 379 00:22:57,400 --> 00:23:01,960 Speaker 1: content ad free. Arguably this was a necessary move because 380 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:04,880 Speaker 1: Netflix was running away with it in terms of success 381 00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:08,040 Speaker 1: in the streaming space. So around this time when Hulu 382 00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:12,600 Speaker 1: introduced this new subscription tier, they had around nine million 383 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:16,400 Speaker 1: subscribers in the United States, which isn't bad, but Netflix 384 00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:19,920 Speaker 1: had forty one million at that point. So Hulu needed 385 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:23,920 Speaker 1: a way to gain more subscribers, and the company figured 386 00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:26,200 Speaker 1: there were folks who were just bulking at the thought 387 00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:28,679 Speaker 1: of having to pay a subscription and still have to 388 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:33,439 Speaker 1: watch ads anyway, So Hulu introduced the tier, so if 389 00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:36,240 Speaker 1: you wanted to pay less, you could pay the seven 390 00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:39,760 Speaker 1: ninety nine per month and watch material with ads. For 391 00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:42,640 Speaker 1: the premium price of twelve dollars a month, you could 392 00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:45,199 Speaker 1: get that same stuff but without the ads. And the 393 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:47,119 Speaker 1: hope was that the folks who really didn't want to 394 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:49,560 Speaker 1: deal with ads would now flock on over to Hulu. 395 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:52,119 Speaker 1: And you might be saying to yourself, but hang on, 396 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:56,159 Speaker 1: didn't Hulu also have a way to watch programming for 397 00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:59,600 Speaker 1: free with no subscription at all. With ads, you know, 398 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:02,520 Speaker 1: you had fewer options. You couldn't watch full seasons, you 399 00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:05,719 Speaker 1: could only watch a few episodes in the most recent 400 00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:08,840 Speaker 1: airing of a show, but you still could do that 401 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:15,280 Speaker 1: right for free. Doesn't that undermine the subscription strategy? And yeah, 402 00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:18,119 Speaker 1: it kind of did, which might be why in twenty 403 00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:23,760 Speaker 1: sixteen Hulu ended the free tier of service. Hulu signed 404 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:26,000 Speaker 1: a deal with Yahoo, which would be allowed to do 405 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:29,800 Speaker 1: what essentially Hulu had already been doing, airing certain television 406 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:33,640 Speaker 1: programs with ads. That one was called Yahoo View, and 407 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:36,520 Speaker 1: it would only include the five most recent episodes of 408 00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:40,280 Speaker 1: the various television shows, and those would only go live 409 00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:43,919 Speaker 1: eight days after they had already aired on television on 410 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:47,560 Speaker 1: the three partner networks. At Hulu, it also had access 411 00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:51,760 Speaker 1: to other network programming, but again the agreements of that 412 00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:55,800 Speaker 1: were varied across the board. Meanwhile, over at Hulu, there 413 00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:59,000 Speaker 1: was a new stakeholder that was joining the partnership. So, 414 00:24:59,320 --> 00:25:02,360 Speaker 1: just to recap, at this point, the three main partners 415 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:06,640 Speaker 1: at Hulu were Comcast, which owned NBC, Universal Disney which 416 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:10,960 Speaker 1: owned ABC, and twenty first Century Fox. But joining them 417 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:15,199 Speaker 1: was Time Warner, which spent a hefty five hundred and 418 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:19,280 Speaker 1: eighty three million dollars for a ten percent steak in Hulu. 419 00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:22,800 Speaker 1: This was in twenty sixteen. By the end of that year, 420 00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:28,280 Speaker 1: Hulu would hit twelve million subscribers. Okay, this is a 421 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:30,760 Speaker 1: good point for us to take another break, but we'll 422 00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:43,480 Speaker 1: be back after our message from our sponsors. Okay, we're back. 423 00:25:43,560 --> 00:25:46,919 Speaker 1: I had just talked about in twenty sixteen how Hulu 424 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:50,200 Speaker 1: had hit twelve million subscribers, and that time Warner had 425 00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:53,520 Speaker 1: purchased a ten percent steak in the company. Twenty seventeen 426 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:56,720 Speaker 1: was another huge year for Hulu for lots of different reasons. 427 00:25:57,080 --> 00:25:59,880 Speaker 1: In May of that year, Hulu launched a beta test 428 00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:04,440 Speaker 1: product called Hulu with Live TV Now. As the name suggests, 429 00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:09,240 Speaker 1: this service included not just Hulu's library of on demand content, 430 00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:15,000 Speaker 1: it also included access to live television programming. The service 431 00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:18,840 Speaker 1: also launched with a DVR like feature. Customers who paid 432 00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:21,680 Speaker 1: the thirty nine dollars and ninety nine cents per month 433 00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:25,560 Speaker 1: subscription fee would get access to the live programming on 434 00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:30,040 Speaker 1: demand programming, and they would have fifty hours of recording storage, 435 00:26:30,119 --> 00:26:33,280 Speaker 1: so they could, you know, record shows as they were 436 00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:36,760 Speaker 1: airing live and watch them later. The live programming included 437 00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:41,199 Speaker 1: the four major broadcast networks, which also included local affiliates 438 00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:43,320 Speaker 1: in some of the major markets, which is good because 439 00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:45,320 Speaker 1: if you wanted to watch the news or something. You 440 00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:47,600 Speaker 1: want it to be the news for your region, not 441 00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:51,440 Speaker 1: the news for the closest major market. And a bunch 442 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:54,840 Speaker 1: of cable television channels were also included in this, not 443 00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:58,200 Speaker 1: all of them, but a lot, and it made Hulu 444 00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:01,920 Speaker 1: the first product to carry both live and on demand 445 00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:05,960 Speaker 1: programming as an internet based service. And if you wanted 446 00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:08,640 Speaker 1: to subscribe to the live service and also opt out 447 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:12,159 Speaker 1: of commercials for the on demand programming, well then you 448 00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:14,560 Speaker 1: would have to add in that extra four dollars a 449 00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:17,359 Speaker 1: month to your bill. So just like the basic service 450 00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:19,720 Speaker 1: which was seven ninety nine or eight dollars a month, 451 00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:22,840 Speaker 1: and the premium service was twelve dollars a month, same 452 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:24,440 Speaker 1: sort of thing, you still had to add that four 453 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:27,280 Speaker 1: dollars into your thirty nine and dollars of nine nine 454 00:27:27,280 --> 00:27:30,080 Speaker 1: cents per month subscription if you didn't want ads on 455 00:27:30,119 --> 00:27:32,800 Speaker 1: the on demand stuff. Now, I mentioned in the previous 456 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:36,600 Speaker 1: episode that Hulu got into the original content game earlier 457 00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:39,399 Speaker 1: than Netflix by a couple of years. Netflix's House of 458 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:43,040 Speaker 1: Cards debuted in twenty thirteen. Hulu had been making original 459 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:46,080 Speaker 1: content since twenty eleven. Well, now we're up to twenty 460 00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:50,240 Speaker 1: seventeen and Netflix had more than caught up by launching 461 00:27:50,359 --> 00:27:53,520 Speaker 1: various prestige series. House of Cards led the way, but 462 00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:56,880 Speaker 1: other shows like Stranger Things were also huge hits both 463 00:27:56,880 --> 00:28:00,760 Speaker 1: critically and commercially. Hulu didn't just sit back, though. The 464 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:03,840 Speaker 1: company had produced multiple original films and shows as well, 465 00:28:04,119 --> 00:28:07,560 Speaker 1: some of which were receiving critical acclaim, and one of them, 466 00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:11,960 Speaker 1: the series adaptation of Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale, 467 00:28:12,359 --> 00:28:16,280 Speaker 1: was a smash success. It was a huge hit with critics. 468 00:28:16,359 --> 00:28:19,399 Speaker 1: It was very popular, so much so that it was 469 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:22,879 Speaker 1: The Handmaid's Tale that became the first series from a 470 00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:26,840 Speaker 1: streaming network to win an Emmy Award. This was a 471 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:30,640 Speaker 1: really big moment for Hulu, and it indicated that original 472 00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:34,600 Speaker 1: content made for streaming services could stand toe to toe 473 00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:37,959 Speaker 1: with the stuff that was airing on broadcast and cable television. 474 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:40,960 Speaker 1: And it meant that Hulu could claim a first. In 475 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:43,280 Speaker 1: a year when Netflix had two series, it had House 476 00:28:43,320 --> 00:28:47,000 Speaker 1: of Cards and Stranger Things in contention for that Emmy 477 00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:51,680 Speaker 1: for Best Drama. Following Hulu's triumph was another big shift 478 00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:55,120 Speaker 1: in leadership. Mike Hopkins, who had led the company since 479 00:28:55,120 --> 00:28:58,920 Speaker 1: twenty thirteen, announced in October twenty seventeen that he would 480 00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:02,840 Speaker 1: be stepping down from the company. Randy Freer, who like 481 00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:06,560 Speaker 1: Mike Hopkins, was a C suite executive at Fox Networks Group, 482 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:10,440 Speaker 1: actually came over to become CEO of Hulu and he 483 00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:12,080 Speaker 1: would stay in that role for just two and a 484 00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:15,240 Speaker 1: half years. His departure in twenty twenty would be due 485 00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:18,040 Speaker 1: to some other massive changes at the corporate level, which 486 00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:20,520 Speaker 1: is what we would call foreshadowing. But I'm going to 487 00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:22,840 Speaker 1: go straight to it, so I guess it doesn't really count, 488 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:25,120 Speaker 1: all right, So let's talk about some of these massive 489 00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:28,720 Speaker 1: corporate moves that would happen around this timeframe of twenty 490 00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:32,480 Speaker 1: seventeen to the early twenty twenties. So in twenty eighteen, 491 00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:35,440 Speaker 1: while Hulu was celebrating its tenth anniversary as well as 492 00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:40,400 Speaker 1: hitting twenty five million subscribers, AT and T acquired Time Warner. 493 00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:44,120 Speaker 1: So this is when Time Warner would transform into Warner Media. 494 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:47,640 Speaker 1: Now you might remember that in twenty sixteen, Time Warner 495 00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:50,880 Speaker 1: bought a ten percent steak in Hulu. Well, as part 496 00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:53,640 Speaker 1: of this whole transfer with the AT and T acquisition, 497 00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:58,000 Speaker 1: WarnerMedia would ultimately sell back its ten percent steak in Hulu. 498 00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:02,400 Speaker 1: In twenty nineteen. This would leave the three stakeholders as Comcast, 499 00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:05,640 Speaker 1: twenty first Century Fox, and Disney, or at least it 500 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:09,640 Speaker 1: would have, but in twenty nineteen, Disney acquired twenty first 501 00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:12,880 Speaker 1: century Fox. This was not a shock, Disney had actually 502 00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:16,440 Speaker 1: announced the intent to acquire twenty first century Fox back 503 00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:20,480 Speaker 1: in twenty seventeen. The deal would mean that the movie Studio, 504 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:24,440 Speaker 1: twentieth Century Fox, plus several cable channels like FX and 505 00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:28,320 Speaker 1: the Fox Networks Group would all transfer to Disney. Also 506 00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:32,440 Speaker 1: transferring to Disney would be Fox's thirty percent stake in Hulu, 507 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:36,520 Speaker 1: so that would bring Disney's ownership to sixty percent. Then 508 00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:40,160 Speaker 1: you have WarnerMedia selling off its ten percent share, Disney 509 00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:43,719 Speaker 1: bumped up its ownership percentage to around sixty six percent, 510 00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:47,520 Speaker 1: and Comcast would have essentially the other thirty four percent. 511 00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:52,120 Speaker 1: Fun reminder, Jason Kylar, the original CEO of Hulu, would 512 00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:55,080 Speaker 1: be heading up WarnerMedia around this time, and he would 513 00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:58,800 Speaker 1: continue to do so until Discovery acquired WarnerMedia from AT 514 00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:01,760 Speaker 1: and T. I told you these things are complicated. So 515 00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:06,400 Speaker 1: the Mouse House thus gained a majority stake in Hulu, 516 00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:09,120 Speaker 1: and this pretty much set into motion the events that 517 00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:13,040 Speaker 1: would lead to Disney ultimately acquiring the whole shebang, but 518 00:31:13,280 --> 00:31:15,360 Speaker 1: that would turn out to be a very, very long 519 00:31:15,440 --> 00:31:18,560 Speaker 1: process that technically is still going on today because of 520 00:31:18,600 --> 00:31:22,480 Speaker 1: disputes over the value of Hulu itself. Randy Freer stepped 521 00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:25,480 Speaker 1: down as Hulu CEO in twenty twenty, and the new 522 00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:29,760 Speaker 1: mandate was that whomever led Hulu would report directly to 523 00:31:29,840 --> 00:31:33,920 Speaker 1: a Disney executive named Kevin Meyer, who was a direct 524 00:31:33,920 --> 00:31:38,000 Speaker 1: to consumer executive over at Disney. Kelly Campbell, who had 525 00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:40,640 Speaker 1: been chief marketing officer for Hulu, would become the new 526 00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:44,040 Speaker 1: president of the company, and she reported directly to Kevin Meyer. 527 00:31:44,520 --> 00:31:46,400 Speaker 1: More on her in just a second. Let's talk about 528 00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:49,880 Speaker 1: the myriad of streaming platforms that also were launching around 529 00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:53,600 Speaker 1: this timeframe. All right, So Netflix and Amazon had been 530 00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:57,000 Speaker 1: going strong for more than a decade in the streaming space. 531 00:31:57,080 --> 00:32:01,120 Speaker 1: At this point, CBS All Access was continuing, and then 532 00:32:01,160 --> 00:32:05,240 Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one would transform into Paramount Plus. WarnerMedia 533 00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:08,680 Speaker 1: would launch HBO Max, which in some ways was the 534 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:13,840 Speaker 1: successor to HBO Go. Disney had actually launched Disney Plus 535 00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:16,840 Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen. That raised some eyebrows because it looked 536 00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:19,520 Speaker 1: like Disney was competing against itself. I mean, it owned 537 00:32:19,560 --> 00:32:22,720 Speaker 1: a stake in Hulu, and then it launches a competing 538 00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:26,920 Speaker 1: streaming platform called Disney Plus. They also launched ESPN Plus, 539 00:32:27,080 --> 00:32:31,480 Speaker 1: which obviously focused more on sports. Apple had launched Apple 540 00:32:31,520 --> 00:32:36,600 Speaker 1: tv Plus in twenty nineteen, NBC Universal launched Peacock in 541 00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:40,000 Speaker 1: twenty twenty, And those are just the big streaming platforms. 542 00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:42,120 Speaker 1: There are a lot more that we could mention, and 543 00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:46,000 Speaker 1: there are also dozens of free ads supported television services 544 00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:50,680 Speaker 1: also known as fast services. That's like Crackle or two 545 00:32:50,680 --> 00:32:53,600 Speaker 1: B or the Roku channel and more. What I find 546 00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:57,280 Speaker 1: interesting is we went from Hulu, which started off as 547 00:32:57,280 --> 00:33:01,040 Speaker 1: a joint venture between various media compares ed and we 548 00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:04,160 Speaker 1: would end up with Hulu still being a thing, but 549 00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:08,240 Speaker 1: the individual competitors had all launched their own independent services. 550 00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:11,960 Speaker 1: And obviously this really just boils down to Peacock and 551 00:33:12,040 --> 00:33:15,440 Speaker 1: Disney Plus, because Disney gobbled everybody else up. But yeah, 552 00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:17,960 Speaker 1: by twenty twenty one, things were very different in the 553 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:20,560 Speaker 1: streaming space and there was a lot more competition for 554 00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:25,360 Speaker 1: viewer time and dollars. Andy'll that's tough. Like a lot 555 00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:28,760 Speaker 1: of these these services require subscription. They're not free to use, 556 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:32,360 Speaker 1: so they are in direct competition with each other, and 557 00:33:32,760 --> 00:33:37,000 Speaker 1: customers were getting frustrated because the original belief was that, hey, 558 00:33:37,040 --> 00:33:39,280 Speaker 1: streaming's going to let me access the things I want 559 00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:41,760 Speaker 1: pretty easily. But in truth, if you want to access 560 00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:45,040 Speaker 1: all the stuff you potentially like, it means you're subscribing 561 00:33:45,080 --> 00:33:48,480 Speaker 1: to like half a dozen or more services. Heck, I 562 00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:51,480 Speaker 1: subscribe to around that many, and there's some I still 563 00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:54,400 Speaker 1: don't subscribe to, which means like, there are shows I've 564 00:33:54,440 --> 00:33:56,600 Speaker 1: heard about that I know I would love that I 565 00:33:56,640 --> 00:33:59,680 Speaker 1: have never seen because I don't have an account with 566 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:02,880 Speaker 1: that service. All right, So more drama was happening at 567 00:34:02,880 --> 00:34:05,959 Speaker 1: the leadership level over at Hulu. I mentioned Kelly Campbell 568 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:09,480 Speaker 1: became president of Hulu in twenty twenty, while in twenty 569 00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:12,560 Speaker 1: twenty one she resigned, and two days after she resigned, 570 00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:16,360 Speaker 1: she took the job as president of Peacock, the streaming 571 00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:20,120 Speaker 1: service from NBC Universal, which of course is owned by Comcast. 572 00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:23,080 Speaker 1: And that seemed like shots fired right, Like, she steps 573 00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:26,520 Speaker 1: down from Hulu, a joint project between Disney and Comcast, 574 00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:30,160 Speaker 1: and then becomes head of Peacock, which is owned by Comcast. 575 00:34:30,680 --> 00:34:34,520 Speaker 1: You know, it's it's very odd Well, Joe Early would 576 00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:37,520 Speaker 1: replace Kelly Campbell as president of Hulu. Last year he 577 00:34:37,560 --> 00:34:41,560 Speaker 1: actually got promoted. He's now President of Direct Consumer Disney Entertainment, 578 00:34:41,680 --> 00:34:44,320 Speaker 1: which puts him in charge of all Disney streaming efforts, 579 00:34:44,360 --> 00:34:47,719 Speaker 1: so not just Hulu but also Disney Plus. So I 580 00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:51,799 Speaker 1: think we're currently done with the various corporate shuffling at 581 00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:54,160 Speaker 1: this point for this part of the story. Anyway, who 582 00:34:54,160 --> 00:34:57,040 Speaker 1: knows what tomorrow will bring. There were rumors in late 583 00:34:57,080 --> 00:34:59,640 Speaker 1: twenty twenty three that Hulu might make another go at 584 00:34:59,680 --> 00:35:02,920 Speaker 1: an initial public offering. In the last episode, I mentioned 585 00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:05,520 Speaker 1: that there was early talk of a Hulu IPO back 586 00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:08,200 Speaker 1: in twenty eleven, but that just never came to be. Well, 587 00:35:08,560 --> 00:35:13,680 Speaker 1: neither would the twenty twenty three IPO, because in twenty 588 00:35:13,719 --> 00:35:18,800 Speaker 1: twenty three, Disney announced it would acquire Comcast's share of Hulu, 589 00:35:18,840 --> 00:35:22,040 Speaker 1: which was around thirty three thirty four percent, and that 590 00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:25,600 Speaker 1: the deal was valued at a minimum of eight point 591 00:35:25,640 --> 00:35:30,359 Speaker 1: six billion with the B dollars, that's a princely sum. Now. 592 00:35:30,400 --> 00:35:32,960 Speaker 1: This would also bring an end to the joint venture 593 00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:36,400 Speaker 1: status of Hulu once and for all. Once this deal closes, 594 00:35:36,680 --> 00:35:39,280 Speaker 1: Disney had pretty much full control of the company. Anyway 595 00:35:39,320 --> 00:35:43,000 Speaker 1: since twenty nineteen because it had acquired twenty first Century 596 00:35:43,040 --> 00:35:47,200 Speaker 1: Fox and gained majority ownership of Hulu. Comcast had largely 597 00:35:47,280 --> 00:35:50,440 Speaker 1: been a silent partner at that point, but then Comcast 598 00:35:50,480 --> 00:35:54,080 Speaker 1: also launched the Peacocks service in competition with Hulu. So 599 00:35:54,239 --> 00:35:58,319 Speaker 1: Disney has been offering various bundles that include Hulu and 600 00:35:58,400 --> 00:36:02,120 Speaker 1: Disney Plus since two thou nineteen, and has more directly 601 00:36:02,160 --> 00:36:05,960 Speaker 1: integrated Hulu into Disney Plus bundles since the company's announcement 602 00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:08,840 Speaker 1: that it was going to acquire full ownership of Hulu. 603 00:36:09,239 --> 00:36:12,480 Speaker 1: Some have said that Disney's plans to treat Hulu as 604 00:36:12,520 --> 00:36:15,680 Speaker 1: its way to deliver the non disney Ish stuff in 605 00:36:15,719 --> 00:36:19,360 Speaker 1: its portfolio is the real heart of the strategy. That 606 00:36:19,520 --> 00:36:22,400 Speaker 1: Disney Plus will be kept to the more family friendly, 607 00:36:22,520 --> 00:36:26,560 Speaker 1: traditional Disney content of the Walt Disney Company, and Hulu 608 00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:30,200 Speaker 1: will be like everything else, essentially now for one last 609 00:36:30,200 --> 00:36:33,720 Speaker 1: bit of drama. So Comcast has accused Disney of trying 610 00:36:33,719 --> 00:36:37,440 Speaker 1: to sandbag Hulu leading up to the transfer of ownership, 611 00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:40,480 Speaker 1: So essentially what Comcast is saying is that Disney has 612 00:36:40,600 --> 00:36:45,760 Speaker 1: purposefully chosen to favor other deals in favor of Hulu 613 00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:50,200 Speaker 1: rather than actually growing Hulu, because if they were to 614 00:36:50,239 --> 00:36:54,239 Speaker 1: grow Hulu, Hulu's value would increase, and then Disney would 615 00:36:54,280 --> 00:36:57,120 Speaker 1: have to pay more money to Comcast for that thirty 616 00:36:57,160 --> 00:36:59,439 Speaker 1: three percent. And I guess you can kind of see 617 00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:02,200 Speaker 1: Disney you here if that's in fact true, that you know, 618 00:37:02,239 --> 00:37:04,560 Speaker 1: you don't want to invest in making a company more 619 00:37:04,600 --> 00:37:07,680 Speaker 1: expensive just because you're going to have to pay that 620 00:37:07,840 --> 00:37:10,319 Speaker 1: money ultimately to acquire the very last bit of it. 621 00:37:10,360 --> 00:37:13,279 Speaker 1: So why not just let Hulu kind of idle and 622 00:37:13,360 --> 00:37:15,799 Speaker 1: keep on keeping on until the deal closes, at which 623 00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:19,360 Speaker 1: point then you can pursue efforts to expand the service. 624 00:37:19,600 --> 00:37:21,880 Speaker 1: But yeah, still it kind of seems like dirty pool. 625 00:37:22,280 --> 00:37:25,160 Speaker 1: And to the surprise of no one, Disney and Comcast 626 00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:29,280 Speaker 1: fundamentally disagree as to how much Hulu is actually worth. 627 00:37:29,560 --> 00:37:33,200 Speaker 1: Obviously this matters because Disney has agreed to purchase Comcast's 628 00:37:33,480 --> 00:37:36,640 Speaker 1: thirty three or thirty four percent stake in the company, 629 00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:39,880 Speaker 1: And in fact, Disney has already paid the eight point 630 00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:43,960 Speaker 1: six billion dollar minimum to Comcast late last year. But 631 00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:46,520 Speaker 1: that was just to cover the minimum, right, we know 632 00:37:46,640 --> 00:37:48,239 Speaker 1: that it was going to be more than eight point 633 00:37:48,360 --> 00:37:50,960 Speaker 1: six billion. That was just the bottom price. So it's 634 00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:54,240 Speaker 1: kind of like a down payment. So Comcast and Disney 635 00:37:54,320 --> 00:37:58,400 Speaker 1: each hired firms to evaluate Hulu's worth to determine how 636 00:37:58,520 --> 00:38:01,880 Speaker 1: much the final cost of that thirty three percent is 637 00:38:01,920 --> 00:38:04,160 Speaker 1: going to be, and as I'm sure you can guess, 638 00:38:04,480 --> 00:38:07,800 Speaker 1: the two sides came up with very different answers. Now, 639 00:38:08,040 --> 00:38:12,200 Speaker 1: their agreement stated that if their individual evaluations were within 640 00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:15,360 Speaker 1: ten percent of one another, the final payout would become 641 00:38:15,400 --> 00:38:18,840 Speaker 1: the average between these two values. But that didn't happen 642 00:38:19,000 --> 00:38:21,759 Speaker 1: because the two values are not in ten percent of 643 00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:25,360 Speaker 1: each other. According to Reuter's. Disney hired JP Morgan to 644 00:38:25,440 --> 00:38:28,800 Speaker 1: estimate Hulu's value, and that amount came to twenty seven 645 00:38:28,840 --> 00:38:33,759 Speaker 1: point five billion dollars or so. Comcast meanwhile secured the 646 00:38:33,800 --> 00:38:37,040 Speaker 1: services of Morgan Stanley, which said that Hulu is worth 647 00:38:37,080 --> 00:38:41,160 Speaker 1: more than forty billion dollars. That's a huge gap, twenty 648 00:38:41,200 --> 00:38:43,880 Speaker 1: seven point five to forty and it means that the 649 00:38:43,880 --> 00:38:46,640 Speaker 1: two companies have to hire an independent third party to 650 00:38:46,719 --> 00:38:51,600 Speaker 1: evaluate Hulu again and to determine its quote unquote real value. 651 00:38:52,080 --> 00:38:54,839 Speaker 1: I put the reel end quotes because y'all, this all 652 00:38:54,960 --> 00:38:58,719 Speaker 1: ends up being at least somewhat subjective, and obviously, like 653 00:38:59,200 --> 00:39:02,120 Speaker 1: Disney had an incentive to have a lower valuation so 654 00:39:02,120 --> 00:39:04,360 Speaker 1: it wouldn't have to pay as much. Comcasts had an 655 00:39:04,440 --> 00:39:06,480 Speaker 1: incentive to have a higher valuation so it could get 656 00:39:06,520 --> 00:39:08,759 Speaker 1: paid more. Now, the way this is going to work 657 00:39:08,840 --> 00:39:10,919 Speaker 1: is that the third party is going to produce its 658 00:39:10,920 --> 00:39:14,720 Speaker 1: own valuation. If that valuation is closer to Disney's number 659 00:39:14,960 --> 00:39:17,920 Speaker 1: than those two valuations get averaged together. That determines how 660 00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:20,839 Speaker 1: much more money Disney has to pay to Comcast. If 661 00:39:20,840 --> 00:39:24,040 Speaker 1: the valuation is closer to Comcast's number than those two 662 00:39:24,080 --> 00:39:26,560 Speaker 1: figures will get averaged, and then Disney will have to 663 00:39:26,560 --> 00:39:29,839 Speaker 1: cough up the difference, whatever the final damage will be. 664 00:39:30,200 --> 00:39:33,480 Speaker 1: Disney will then become the sole owner of Hulu. Now, 665 00:39:33,520 --> 00:39:35,560 Speaker 1: this is not the end of Hulu's story, but it 666 00:39:35,600 --> 00:39:37,840 Speaker 1: will be the end of it being a joint venture 667 00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:43,480 Speaker 1: between media competitors. So will Hulu flourish under Disney or 668 00:39:43,520 --> 00:39:47,080 Speaker 1: will we see its offerings diluted due to competition from 669 00:39:47,120 --> 00:39:51,400 Speaker 1: other streaming platforms and companies wanting to keep their stuff 670 00:39:51,480 --> 00:39:56,000 Speaker 1: exclusive for their own platform that they have launched, Or 671 00:39:56,360 --> 00:39:57,880 Speaker 1: are we going to see a sort of return to 672 00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:00,359 Speaker 1: the old days, only in the form of bundle that 673 00:40:00,400 --> 00:40:03,160 Speaker 1: make online streaming look more and more like cable television, 674 00:40:03,200 --> 00:40:06,680 Speaker 1: where you're going to be paying for a access to 675 00:40:06,760 --> 00:40:10,879 Speaker 1: a bundle of different services for one monthly fee. I'm 676 00:40:10,920 --> 00:40:12,640 Speaker 1: betting that last one is going to be the case, 677 00:40:12,640 --> 00:40:15,120 Speaker 1: at least for a little while. But ultimately, I think 678 00:40:15,160 --> 00:40:18,160 Speaker 1: audiences are going to decide the fate of these services, 679 00:40:18,400 --> 00:40:21,720 Speaker 1: each of which has focused more on creating original content 680 00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:25,640 Speaker 1: and migrated further away from being a rebroadcast service. That's 681 00:40:25,680 --> 00:40:28,879 Speaker 1: another kind of ongoing through line for all of these 682 00:40:28,920 --> 00:40:35,000 Speaker 1: different platforms is that the access to the vast library 683 00:40:35,120 --> 00:40:38,160 Speaker 1: of material that has come out before is part of 684 00:40:38,200 --> 00:40:42,280 Speaker 1: the strategy, but the thing that attracts new subscribers tends 685 00:40:42,280 --> 00:40:45,319 Speaker 1: to be original material that you can't find anywhere else. 686 00:40:45,760 --> 00:40:49,000 Speaker 1: So it was interesting to watch that happen first with 687 00:40:49,120 --> 00:40:52,200 Speaker 1: Hulu and then with Netflix and Amazon as well, and 688 00:40:52,239 --> 00:40:54,920 Speaker 1: now with all these different platforms you can find original 689 00:40:54,960 --> 00:40:57,480 Speaker 1: programming on all of them to some degree or another, 690 00:40:58,080 --> 00:41:02,360 Speaker 1: that that has become the new approach. Anyway, that is 691 00:41:02,400 --> 00:41:06,160 Speaker 1: the Hulu story as it stands now. Obviously it's still developing. 692 00:41:06,600 --> 00:41:08,920 Speaker 1: We're gonna eventually get to a point where Disney does 693 00:41:09,200 --> 00:41:12,520 Speaker 1: have to pay whatever extra amount is owed to Comcast 694 00:41:12,560 --> 00:41:15,960 Speaker 1: and then we've got, you know, Hulu, a Disney company, 695 00:41:16,360 --> 00:41:19,680 Speaker 1: and you'll be able to that. You already are able 696 00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:22,240 Speaker 1: to subscribe to a bundle of Hulu and Disney Plus. 697 00:41:22,320 --> 00:41:24,680 Speaker 1: You are if you're not me. I made a goof 698 00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:27,800 Speaker 1: What I did was when I subscribed to Disney Plus, 699 00:41:27,920 --> 00:41:30,600 Speaker 1: I chose to go ahead and subscribe for a full year, 700 00:41:31,239 --> 00:41:34,719 Speaker 1: which means I can't make a change to my subscription 701 00:41:34,840 --> 00:41:40,960 Speaker 1: status until next November. So while I could technically subscribe 702 00:41:40,960 --> 00:41:44,400 Speaker 1: to Hulu, I don't want to yet because I'm planning 703 00:41:44,440 --> 00:41:47,840 Speaker 1: on changing my subscription to Disney Plus and November to 704 00:41:47,880 --> 00:41:50,239 Speaker 1: get the bundle so that I have access to all 705 00:41:50,320 --> 00:41:53,560 Speaker 1: that material. But it means in the meantime, I don't 706 00:41:53,560 --> 00:41:55,759 Speaker 1: have access to it, because otherwise I'm going to have 707 00:41:55,800 --> 00:41:58,840 Speaker 1: to manage even more subscriptions, and y'all, I just I 708 00:41:58,880 --> 00:42:01,279 Speaker 1: don't have the brain cells for I'm sure you are 709 00:42:01,320 --> 00:42:04,160 Speaker 1: aware of that already, just from listening to this podcast. 710 00:42:04,360 --> 00:42:07,560 Speaker 1: One other thing, we will have a new episode on Friday, 711 00:42:07,960 --> 00:42:10,840 Speaker 1: but then next week we've got Memorial Day here in 712 00:42:10,880 --> 00:42:14,080 Speaker 1: the United States, so I'm going to have some reruns 713 00:42:14,160 --> 00:42:16,440 Speaker 1: on Monday and Wednesday, as I will be out of 714 00:42:16,440 --> 00:42:20,120 Speaker 1: town and then plan to have another new episode on 715 00:42:20,719 --> 00:42:23,360 Speaker 1: next Friday as well. Just wanted to make y'all aware 716 00:42:23,400 --> 00:42:26,600 Speaker 1: of that before it happens, and I hope you are 717 00:42:26,640 --> 00:42:28,520 Speaker 1: all well. I hope those of you who will be 718 00:42:28,600 --> 00:42:32,400 Speaker 1: celebrating a long weekend do so joyfully and safely, and 719 00:42:32,440 --> 00:42:41,760 Speaker 1: I will talk to you again really soon. Tech Stuff 720 00:42:41,880 --> 00:42:46,400 Speaker 1: is an iHeartRadio production. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit 721 00:42:46,440 --> 00:42:49,960 Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 722 00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:54,480 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.