On Tuesday, Fox announced a deal with Hulu.com that would require people to prove that they pay for satellite or cable services in order to watch new episodes online the day after they air.
Starting August 15, in order to view new episodes on Hulu or Fox.com, people will have to create a username and password; otherwise, they’ll have to wait eight days to see the episode.
Hulu Plus members, who pay $7.99 per month for a larger variety of television and movie selections, will also have access to shows the day after they air.
So far, Dish Network — which is home to 14.2 million subscribers — is the only cable service to sign up for the deal. Not only is this deal inconvenient for those who use Hulu regularly, but at the moment, it’s also too exclusive to do any good for the website and the network.
The deal — called authentication by those in the television industry — is being touted as a method of preserving lucrative advertising revenue and as a way to encourage people to sign up for cable packages. Additionally, those behind the deal are hoping it will discourage people from abandoning their TV sets permanently, in favor of online streaming. For now, this seems like Fox is taking a leap of faith that isn’t likely to work out.
It makes sense that they would want to use the authentication strategy to help save some of the advertising money they lose with online streaming, until you remember that one of the reasons News Corp. — Fox’s parent company — and NBC Universal created Hulu in the first place was to battle illegal online streaming. It seems as though they’ve created the very problem they’re trying to fix.
It is also unlikely that a weeklong wait to watch new TV shows will result in new cable subscribers. In fact, if — in the weeklong delay — people don’t just forget and abandon their shows altogether, the most likely result will be people returning to using illegal streaming. Basically, this seems like a really elaborate way of fueling the problem, instead of ending it.
The fact that only Dish Network has signed on so far is hopefully a sign that not many other cable services will sign up. Dish Network is home to millions of cable viewers but it isn’t as prominent as other services.
If Comcast, with it’s 22.8 million subscribers, and DirecTV, with 19.4 million subscribers, sign up also, the authentication strategy will likely pick up speed, making this a much bigger deal than it is now.
Other broadcast networks signing on would also bring a bit more clout to the deal.
As of now, missing out on shows like Glee and House are hits I can easily take. But, I don’t know if I could take falling behind on Modern Family if ABC signs up, and if NBC takes part, which is likely as it teamed with News Corp. to create Hulu, than the entire Thursday night comedy-block is up in the air.
Many of those shows are on the bubble, so it’d be a risky move on their part. Hopefully, the authentication deal is short-lived.