Advertising Age predicts Hulu is about to become more like traditional television

TV-Sized Ad Loads Coming to Online Video? [Stop the Cap]

Advertising Age is predicting that long form online video is about to become a lot more like traditional television, charging a subscription fee for access to content and the addition of more commercial advertising. Right now on Hulu, the most popular long form video site, viewers can watch television shows free with a single ad shown during each commercial break. If Advertising Age's predictions were to come to fruition, free viewing could change to a subscription fee and the single advertisement would be replaced with several, much like traditional television.

Without a change to their revenue model, Hulu's current ad-supported content is not sustainable long term with other services like Comcast's Xfinity entering the marketplace. Currently Xfinity is available free of charge to Comcast video and broadband customers, but the company has plans to offer subscription access to broadband customers of other providers.

Another force driving change in the long form online model beyond competition is Nielsen's planned integration of traditional television and online video viewing metrics. In coming months, advertisers will be able to compare ratings for shows on both platforms thanks to the change in the way Nielsen reports this information.