Hulu Might Get Rid of Next-Day TV Streaming, Its Only Reason For Being
The war between cord-cutters and cable seems only to be widening, as networks ponder their own streaming services to thwart increasing competition like Netflix and Hulu. Cable may finally have struck back, as Time Warner considers purchasing enough stake to end Hulu’s access to current TV seasons.
According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal (h/t/ Polygon), Time Warner is considering a buy for 25% of Hulu outright, ostensibly to stop the service from streaming current seasons of both network and premium series next-day, and encouraging subscribers to return to appointed airing:
Time Warner believes that the presence of full, current seasons on Hulu—or anywhere else outside the bounds of pay-TV—is harmful to its owners because it contributes to people dropping their pay-TV subscriptions, or “cutting the cord.”
In the discussions about taking a 25% equity stake in Hulu, Time Warner has told the site’s owners that it ultimately wants episodes from current seasons off the service, at least in their existing form, although that is not a condition for its investment, according to the people familiar with the discussions.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Time Warner attempting to curb cord-cutting, as another recent report suggested executive Jeff Bewkes had in mind to push streaming windows for its DC series to a year after their airing, in hopes of aiding live viewing.
Certainly Hulu would suffer a tremendous blow to lose its most recognizable feature, even with the advent of original series and past series libraries, but would it really change the movement away from cable?