Hulu Is Slowing, Hits 12 Million Subscribers Versus Netflix’s 81 Million
Hulu’s subscriber growth is slower than a year ago, despite the streaming service spending a year tweaking the kinds of memberships it offers
Joan E. Solsman | May 4, 2016 @ 5:28 AM
Last Updated: May 4, 2016 @ 6:58 AM
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Hulu touted a 30 percent climb in subscribers in the last year ahead of Wednesday’s star-studded presentation unveiling its programming slate to marketers.
The streaming service now has more than 12 million customers, but there’s a downside: Memberships were climbing at a 50 percent rate a year earlier. And, by comparison, streaming giant Netflix just surpassed 81 million.
The slowing comes even though Hulu has spent much of the last year tweaking the ways people can subscribe and what they get when they do. It abandoned its “Hulu Plus” brand name last year and introduced a new, pricier $11.99 option that strips out all commercials, compared with its ongoing $7.99/month deal that includes some ads but not as many as free viewers see.
It also began bundling Hulu subscriptions with memberships with other streaming services. Last year, it began offering the option of subscribing to Hulu and Showtime’s streaming service both for for about $17 a month, less than it would cost to get both separately.
And Hulu is in talks with programmers about adding live TV channels like ESPN and Fox to its options, the first time the site would be breaking from its identity as a place for on-demand streaming of shows the day after they broadcast on regular TV.
Rivals like Netflix and Amazon price their subscription services cheaper than Hulu and never have commercials, though they also never provide people the chance to watch all their programming free. But Hulu is owned by the parents of three of the country’s big broadcasters, Comcast, Disney and 21st Century Fox, which all have a vested interest in keeping people accustomed to watching ads. Until last summer, Hulu had no ad-free option.
But growing membership is harder to keep up at the same clip for all streaming services, as more and more companies launch their own online platforms. As consumers shift more of their entertainment diet to online alternatives versus regular television, fear about missing out on the next big video audience has spurred programmers like HBO, CBS, Showtime and others to launch their own personal versions of Netflix. Meanwhile, digital-first new media companies like Fullscreen and AwesomenessTV are creating subscription options for their young audiences, too.
Last month, researcher Parks Associates said these news services are creating more dogged competition for shares of consumers’ wallet, with new members sometimes testing out a service during a free trial and then cancelling before or soon after it ends.
10 'Game of Thrones' Characters Most and Least Likely to Die, According to Science (Photos)
So, did Jon Snow really die in "Game of Thrones" season finale? Did Sansa survive her leap from Winterfell's wall? Before Sunday's return of the series starts unraveling those mysteries, researchers at a German university say their algorithm knows the answers. A student team at the Technical University of Munich analyzed data on all the "Game of Thrones" characters and built a machine-learning program that gives each one a percentage chance of survival or doom. Who is the most and least likely to die next?
HBO
This boy king is virtually dead already. Tommen Baratheon has a 97 percent likelihood of dying, according to the algorithm. Considering his grandfather, father, older brother and sister have all been murdered, and basically every person with any power in Westeros is vying to steal his seat on the Iron Throne, this doom may not be the biggest surprise.
Tommen's uncle, Stannis, is a close runner-up in the algorithm's ranking of who's next to die. He has a 96 percent chance of being offed. Of course, our last glimpse of Stannis was of him lying defenseless on the ground as Brienne of Tarth swung her sword at him for the kill, so...
It doesn't look good for fan favorite Khaleesi. Daenerys Targaryen has a 95 percent of dying, putting her at No. 3 in the close race to the grave.
HBO
Davos Seaworth, Stannis Baratheon's once right-hand deputy, has a 91 percent chance of doom. After barely surviving the battle at King's Landing in Season 2, this Onion Knight may not have long left.
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Petyr Baelish's cunning vaulted him to money and power, and it's saved him from more than one dire scrape. But he has a 91 percent likelihood of dying, according to the algorithm, so his wiles may not get him much farther.
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Among those most likely to survive, Roose Bolton is No. 5 on the "might just make it" list. And even though he makes it into that elusive top 5, he still has a 28 percent likelihood of dying.
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Margaery Tyrell's fate is rosier than her young husband, Tommen, at a 64 percent likelihood of dying. Her father, though, has the best chances in the Tyrell family, at only 18 percent doomed.
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Most people love to hate Cersei Lannister, but her conniving ways earn her a solid chance of surviving. She is only 16 percent likely to die, putting her at No. 3 on the list of survivors.
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Bless the all-knowing algorithm! Jon Snow is alive! At least, there's only an 11 percent chance that the Night's Watch mutiny that left him bleeding in the snow actually killed him. Only one other character has a better likelihood of survival.
HBO
Place your bets now. Although she jumped from the heights of Winterfell's high wall in the finale of the last season, machine learning assures us Sansa is the most likely character of all to survive the "Song of Ice and Fire." She her likelihood of death is only 3 percent.
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Is Jon Snow dead or alive? A machine-learning algorithm pegs the percentage chance of every “Game of Thrones” character surviving or perishing
So, did Jon Snow really die in "Game of Thrones" season finale? Did Sansa survive her leap from Winterfell's wall? Before Sunday's return of the series starts unraveling those mysteries, researchers at a German university say their algorithm knows the answers. A student team at the Technical University of Munich analyzed data on all the "Game of Thrones" characters and built a machine-learning program that gives each one a percentage chance of survival or doom. Who is the most and least likely to die next?