2010 Media Predictions

[HardOCP News]

The LA Times has posted its 2010 media predictions. Most are pretty obvious but there are a few on the list that are pretty good. What are your predictions for 2010?

Hulu will start charging viewers. Hulu, the free video site owned by News Corp., NBC Universal and Disney, will require people to pay to watch its programming. This will cause a rift internally as Hulu CEO Jason Kilar resists switching to a pay model, leading to his exit.

 

[PunditGuy]

I've seen a lot of NBC affiliates use one of their sub-channels for weather. I understand that this is a low-bandwidth affair, but why not leverage existing NBC-Universal content instead? Imagine if in a few of the larger markets, NBC affiliates bonded the sub-channels to deliver SyFy, or USA, or Bravo. Sure, Burn Notice or Top Chef could siphon off a few viewers from Leno -- but so what? The ad dollars stay in the NBC family, cable loses its stranglehold on cable programming, and the brand gets recognized as delivering considerable value.

Frankly, that whole notion would be worth it to me if only to see the spit-take the cable executives do when they hear about it.

 

[Ibanezfoo]

Print is dead, "news" outlets online will charge for access, media giants will pay off the government and kill net neutrality, the line between a commercial and a "normal" program will blur even further...

 

[rat]

I've seen a lot of NBC affiliates use one of their sub-channels for weather. I understand that this is a low-bandwidth affair, but why not leverage existing NBC-Universal content instead? Imagine if in a few of the larger markets, NBC affiliates bonded the sub-channels to deliver SyFy, or USA, or Bravo. Sure, Burn Notice or Top Chef could siphon off a few viewers from Leno -- but so what? The ad dollars stay in the NBC family, cable loses its stranglehold on cable programming, and the brand gets recognized as delivering considerable value.

Frankly, that whole notion would be worth it to me if only to see the spit-take the cable executives do when they hear about it.

You nailed it. Now that I've had some time to play with ATSC, I've noticed the subchannels and its use. Not just one, but ALL of the local network stations in my area have weather subchannels.

Fox wants to get back at Time Warner for dropping them? Put FX on broadcast via subchannel. I just know that if NBC did that for SciFi and some other channels, I'd consider dropping my cable down to basic.

 

[krupted]

hulu wont start charging its users this year. theyre still at 1min long ads. i think the ads will have to grow to 3 or 4min long before people start thinking its OK to pay if it gets rid of the ads.

 

[DyNe__]

hulu wont start charging its users this year. theyre still at 1min long ads. i think the ads will have to grow to 3 or 4min long before people start thinking its OK to pay if it gets rid of the ads.

I don't see 3/4 minute ads ever showing up on Hulu. I see it much more likely to just add more 1 minute ads.

 

[Ibanezfoo]

hulu wont start charging its users this year. theyre still at 1min long ads. i think the ads will have to grow to 3 or 4min long before people start thinking its OK to pay if it gets rid of the ads.

Whats the point of watching "TV" online if we have to sit through commercials... I might as well go sit in front of the big screen. If your PC is already hooked to your big screen its probably not an issue for you I guess.

 

[Derangel]

Whats the point of watching "TV" online if we have to sit through commercials... I might as well go sit in front of the big screen. If your PC is already hooked to your big screen its probably not an issue for you I guess.

Commercials help keep it free. If they get too long than it does become an issue, but you can't expect something like that with no commercials.

 

[PheonixChameleon]

Hulu is shifting towards a pay model soon enough.. and then it won't be much better than just a standard Netflix subscription.