Back in June Hulu announced Hulu Plus, a $10 a month broadband video subscription service that is supposed to allow users to access entire back catalogs of TV shows above and beyond what’s available on free Hulu, albeit still with commercials. In August, a scathing study showed that the service really wasn’t worth much with 88% of the content already available for free via normal Hulu.

After significant criticism, Hulu is now considering reducing Hulu Plus to $5 a month according to Peter Kafka at AllThingsD:

Hulu is considering cutting the price of Hulu Plus, the subscription service it began testing in June, sources tell me. I’m told the video site is talking about slashing its $9.95 per-month fee in half, to $4.95… a price cut would indicate that consumers haven’t bought in to the pitch. That shouldn’t be a shock, considering the other video options that consumers have, and the limits that Hulu’s content providers have placed on the service.

As we noted earlier this week, Hulu’s made it very clear they don’t want to truly disrupt and reach their full Internet video potential for fear of upsetting their broadcast owners and that’s before they become part of an even larger Comcast media empire. Like other recent decisions, charging and paywalling first and considering whether you’re offering real value later falls right in line with typical broadcast/cable thinking.

It’s not clear if $5 a month would be any more compelling, though if you act now, Hulu will buckle to the most ridiculous demands of broadcasters at no additional cost.

Link to the original article…

Rumors have been circulating for some time that Hulu is planning a $9.95 subscription service with a select few episodes still available for free but a catalog of additional seasons available for a monthly fee. Those rumors continue to bubble over, with some anonymous sources insisting that the subscription “Hulu Plus” could launch as soon as next week though possibly only for a limited base of 10,000 testers. As you can imagine, stumbling blocks remain in Hulu’s negotiations with broadcasters, who cling tightly to program licensing out of fear of the broadband video (r)evolution. The service is also expected to see integration with the XBOX 360 but rumors also now point to PS3 integration as well.

Link to the original article…

Comcast will leave decisions about commercial placement for its version in the hands of programmers, according to Matt Strauss, the operator’s senior vice president of new media. “I don’t know what the right model ultimately is going to be,” he said. “Our job is to provide the infrastructure to allow the programmer to decide” how to place ads.

Of course should Comcast’s deal with NBC go through, they will effectively be broadcasters, which means they should probably have an idea of what kind of ad model they’d like to see the broadband video service employ — right? The entire idea of TV Everywhere was to keep customers from cutting the cord. However, if TV Everywhere is a clunky, unskippable ad-laden mess with limited selection and bickering content and delivery partners — the initiative could have the opposite effect of the one intended.

Link to the original article…

Have you visited Best Buy yet?

Best Buy has made several resources available to help people understand what’s happening with this transition. I’ve got press documents I can send you, but the major points are these:

-Beginning in early 2006, Best Buy began providing consumers with in-store and online information about the DTV broadcast transition including brochures and a dedicated page at BestBuy.com/DTV.

-In October 2007, Best Buy was the first CE retailer to exit the analog business, pulling all analog tuner products from store shelves.

-Best Buy has launched a dedicated hotline – 877-BBY-DTV9 – where consumers can call and speak with a trained home theater specialist to ask questions about the DTV transition and to learn about their options to get ready for the switch.

-Customers will also be able to redeem their DTV coupons and order converter boxes through this hotline if they are unable to get to a Best Buy store.

-Best Buy store employees across the U.S. have received training on the DTV broadcast transition and the options available to consumers. Store employees in positions that are most likely to assist consumers with DTV broadcast transition inquiries have participated in an additional series of in-depth training sessions since June 2007.

Hurry up… February will be here sooner than you’d think.