Video streaming service Hulu is considering introducing an advertising-free option to its service, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal. Currently, customers are obliged to sit through commercial breaks, even though they pay a USD 7.99 a month subscription for the service. Rivals such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video have highlighted as a key selling points that they do not show ads. One of the people told the newspaper that the “NOAH” (“No Ads Hulu”) project could result in the service begin launched as early as this autumn at a price of about USD 12-14 a month.
If the ad-free service goes ahead, Hulu will face the challenge of attracting new customers without cannibalising its ad-supported business, now at around 9 million subscribers, up from 6 million a year ago. Hulu’s owners, 21st Century Fox, Walt Disney and Comcast, still believe in the ad-supported service and will use data to make ads more relevant to viewers, one of the people said. The company is on track to report around USD 1.5 billion to USD 1.7 billion of revenue this year, according to the same sources.
