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In a move indicating serious problems with Hulu’s business model and advertising sales, Viacom has pulled its popular Comedy Central shows from Hulu. Full story here.
Viacom will move the streams to the shows’ own websites for the present.
The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are two of the most popular shows on Hulu, which signifies a potentially serious revenue loss. Hulu and Viacom had been negotiating a new deal but could not agree to terms:
The companies declined to say what prices were discussed. Hulu’s deals with content owners revolve around an advertising revenue split; the owners typically receive 50 to 70 percent of the revenue, and Hulu keeps the rest, according to industry executives. Because “The Daily Show” and “Colbert” are so popular on the service, Viacom may have insisted on an upfront payment as well, although representatives for the companies would not confirm this.
“There have certainly been instances where there was a premium paid for what you might call the ‘halo effect,’ ” the person involved in the negotiations said. In this case, the “halo effect” would be the users who come to Hulu for Mr. Stewart’s jokes and stay to watch other shows.
Ben Elowitz, the chief executive of Wetpaint, which manages fan Web sites for shows like “The Bachelor” and “Glee,” said the split “looks like a game of chicken being played on their negotiation.”
Hulu, he said, is vulnerable: “Their concept of being the ultimate destination for TV shows only works if they can get the content — and the media companies will never let the balance of power over their content shift to a third party.”
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