Citing a difference in pricing, Comedy Central and streaming video service Hulu have apparently parted ways when it comes to showcasing two of the cable outlet’s most popular shows.
As of Tuesday, Comedy Central was no longer posting new episodes of “The Daily Show with John Stewart” and “The Colbert Report” on Hulu. The network still continues to post the episodes on its own web site, however.
The deal, which came down to financial considerations, sees Hulu losing two of its most popular shows at a time when the web site was considering charging end users for content. How or if this will impact that decision remains to be seen.
Despite the shows having “driven steadily increasing revenue per view”, Hulu was “unable to secure the rights to extend these shows for a much longer period of time”, Andy Forssell, Hulu senior vice-president of content and distribution, wrote on the company blog late on Tuesday evening.
Viacom, the US media group which owns Comedy Central, declined to comment. Discussions are not continuing at the moment, one person familiar with the talks between Viacom and Hulu said on Wednesday.
The breakdown underscores the entertainment and news industries’ struggles to forge lucrative digital replacements for profitable but shrinking traditional businesses, as consumers spend more time with their computers and smartphones.
Over the past year, top executives among Hulu’s equity partners have privately expressed frustration over the service’s progress in generating profits despite its popularity. Hulu and its partners are currently reviewing how it can begin charging for some of its programmes, executives have said publicly.
Viacom again shows their greed
To be honest, I’m not watching a lot of current shows on Hulu anymore. Perhaps it’s a lack of time, and that may be affecting what I choose to watch and how, but it’s not “first stop” for me anymore.
Also, I noticed the promo placement of both shows in the iTunes Store had become more prominent this week.