A man and his wife owned a goose that laid gold eggs every day. Not content with the rate of golden eggs, they kill the goose because they believe the true riches are in the bird's insides. When they cut it open, however, "they found its innards to be like that of any other goose."
Aesop's classic tale of greed is no more evident today than the story of Hulu.
Hulu is a popular Web site that launched nearly three years ago which allows visitors to watch their favorite TV shows for free. The biggest television studios, NBC, FOX and Walt Disney contribute their best and newest shows to Hulu. The site's vast selection also offers classic shows, music videos and movie previews.
Hulu's one catch, if you can call it that, is the infrequent advertisments that interrupt videos.
It's become a very popular site, and a personal favorite of mine because I can watch Family Guy whenever my homework allows me to. I can watch the latest episode or any I missed. It seems too good to be true.
Well, I guess it is.
Reports are surfacing from the media that Hulu is going to start charging viewers a monthly fee of $9.95 to fully access the site.
Apparently the studios who stock the site don't feel they're getting enough dough from advertising revenue. The studios are also feeling pressure from the satellite and cable companies charging viewers to view those same shows.
Viacom has already pulled "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report" over a dispute on how to share the ad revenue those shows pulled in.
Although it's a profitable move for the studios, this is probably a death-sentence for Hulu. Many regular users are going to feel betrayed and newcomers will find other sites that are free or cost less.
Users will move on and find more viable options for viewing free TV on the Web. Even after Hulu makes the switch to subscriptions, it's reported they will still air ads during shows, a final kick to the consumers groin. And as my older brother put it: "I found other sites that didn't have ads during shows."
But the real problem is how big corporations are still greedy. Even with Hulu generating revenue, these conglomerates apparently still aren't getting enough money. We're being deprived, again, of something we've come to expect for free, like drink refills or sauce packets.
When consumers are asked to pay for previously-free commodities, we usually respond by going without them. They fall by the wayside and become irrelevant.
What those big studios have now is a product that works, and should be profitable enough for their big coffers. But it'll never be enough. These big studios are taking a golden product and killing it. They're turning Hulu into just another pricey TV provider.
They're essentially taking their gold-laying goose and killing it for greed. Too bad they couldn't learn from Aesop.
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