When Hulu charges I will be outta here so fast. They mistakenly think it's the experience that drives their huge viewership numbers. It's not - it's the ease of use in watching FREE content. Sure I could TiVo anything here when it's broadcasted and watch on my big-screen TV, but that takes more work. Unfortunately I don't think all our words here will make any difference - in America, a large/public business always has to do things to drive share prices and make more profit. Hulu's board is doing just that here. Too bad they're not thinking long term, for while initial profits will assuredly be up (even if one in 1,000 members stick for the paid service they will make more than their ads do now) 2 years from now there will be no buzz, no talk, no incentive for new people to join the Hulu subscription and the site will wither. Not even the NY Times can make a subscription service work, so Hulu's dreaming if they think they can.
Just my 2 cents...

It's unfortunate Hulu is considering requiring a subscription for service. I have not paid for cable/TV shows in over 4 years and I don't plan to in the future. I'm relatively new to Hulu (got hooked within the past 6 months or so), and used to watch my favorite TV shows on network websites. If Hulu does make the switch, I'll go back to watching on the network websites. I couldn't consider illegal downloading... after all, it is illegal. I guess if networks also stop airing shows for free, I'll just be done with TV. There are plenty of movies in my Netflix queue that have been neglected since I started watching on Hulu.I wish there was another option for Hulu to make money and keep their current customer base. Increased advertising has been suggested, which I think is a great idea, or at least an option for customers to choose between a subscription or ads. Maybe subscribers could have extra features the general population doesn't have access to or something. I think some people are willing to pay a small fee for extras, but not me.

Hate to sound surly like the norm in this discussion, but, everything I watch on hulu is posted at the same time, with additional content at the network sites..I honestly wouldn't pay for hulu. I'll watch advertising and click on them when they interest me, but beyond that, not so much...If network sites stop serving the content I'm interested in and Hulu goes pay, I'll just start doing what I did before Hulu .... stop watching TV. .. .shrug.

My idea echos what the others want and that is to have both a free Hulu and a pay Hulu (If you even go pay at all...). Free Hulu would offer the shows it currently shows.. the ones that are already free on TV and network websites. The pay Hulu could have premium channels like Comcast's On Demand service where people could pay to watch Newly Released movies. Hulu could offer rentals for a day or a flat subscription to watch an unlimited amount of premium shows and movies. I used to have cable. I got rid of it because like everyone else.. I found my shows all online. (When I did have cable, I spent a lot of money paying $4-5 dollars here and there to watch an On Demand show.. its a lot cheaper than $10-20 to watch it in theaters.) If Hulu went pay.. most likely I would not watch TV. I can watch my shows at a friend's house or the gym. I can also just read a book or do something active instead of spending hours watching my fav shows on Hulu. I would not shed a tear. Both advertisers and Hulu will suffer greatly unless they do this transition to Pay to View smoothly. One way to do that is to offer both services. You can advertise the new Premium section of Hulu as a 10-15 second commercial during the tv shows. I agree with others. You may make money if go pay. You may even find morons who will actually pay, but if you want to keep your current traffic (and probably get lots more people too) as well as make money....then I suggest you listen to what we are saying. We WILL leave and chances are.. hulu will NOT be as popular then as it is now unless you offer something that other places do not. Become a one stop show for not only FREE online shows, but Newly Released movie rentals as well! You would make a killing!I am not cheap. I just have other things to spend my time and money on. Make it worth my while.. and I'll stay.. otherwise.. I'll find someone that will.