Speaking of big milestones for Hulu, the internet’s premiere online video streaming service “that offers a selection of hit shows, clips, movies and more at Hulu.com, numerous destination sites online, and through [an] ad-supported subscription service, Hulu Plus” recently signed up its 2 millionth subscriber to that ad-supported subscription service.
Hulu CEO Jason Kilar debuted Hulu Plus in a blog post on June 29, 2010. As of Q1 2012, the company reports over 2 million individuals have signed up and are paying for the premium subscription service. That represents “the fastest ramp of paid subscribers among any video subscription service in the US” (based on internal research from Hulu). That also means in roughly 1 year and 9 months (or somewhere around 641 days), Hulu Plus has acquired, on average about 3,120 subscribers per day, 130 subscribers per hour, and a little more than 2 subscribers per minute.
By comparison, Dish Networks (which started up its direct broadcast satellite service in 1996) reported its paying subscriber numbers at 14.056 million as of June 2011
. And Netflix (which began shipping DVDs to consumers in 1997 with a model based on gym memberships) currently clocks in at 23.4 million paying US subscribers.The 2+ million subscribers who are paying $7.99 per month for Hulu Plus are generating somewhere close to $16 million in monthly revenue for Hulu. By my math, that’s in the ballpark of a 400% monthly increase in revenue year over year. And that’s just in terms of the subscription fees. If you factor in advertising revenue associated with those subscribers, Kilar expects the company’s “subscription services to account for more than half of Hulu’s overall business later this year.”
What’s the company doing with that extra cash? Hulu Plus subscribers (and visitors to Hulu.com) will be pleased to know a good chunk of it is going to enhancing their entertainment viewing experiences through the acquisition of original and exclusive programming.
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