News Corp. wants its Fox programs to have more commercials on Hulu, reports AdAge.
Fox's
parent company is currently negotiating its new contract with Hulu and
wants to provide a greater number of ads for its programs; Hulu has
touted itself since its inception as having less ads than other online
content providers.
News
Corp.'s aim is to provide its advertisers richer cross-promotion deals.
The current terms being discusses would allow Fox to gradually bolster
the number of ads that play during its shows that are already in Hulu's
inventory.
These
talks represent a catch-22; digital outlets want TV programs because of
their high-volume viewership, yet letting them run with little to no
ads doesn't make financial sense. Also if viewers can just watch content
online at their own time, it can negatively affect TV ratings.
Hulu,
which is talks with all three of its media owners - News Corp., Walt
Disney and NBCU - would have to tinker with its platform to allow these
changes News Corp. is asking for. Hulu is known for its streamlined
design and ease of use, even allowing viewers to select the ads they
wish to see.
