"For close to two years we have been working
passionately to bring first run premium content to an online platform
with the creation of brand-new versions of the two iconic series,
All My Children and One Life To Live. There was no precedent for this effort- we had no history-no barometer for how our fans would respond. We
always knew there would quickly be new insights into how audiences
would respond to our shows and this new platform, and that our ability
to adapt quickly to audience needs would ultimately determine the
long-term success of the shows and our
mission. This is a new medium, a new time and we have always planned to
make changes quickly by listening to you, our fans and customers.
"Today it is clear these shows have resonated, as
many millions of views have been logged since our April 29th debut, a
mere two and a half weeks ago. We’ve consistently been in
the top ten shows viewed on Hulu and viewers and critics alike have
told us how impressed they are with the quality of both programs. The
past two weeks have been invaluable in terms of learning about how you
watch and when you watch our shows on this new
platform. We have gained enormous insight through our actual viewing
data and our research. And our research has revealed the following:
·
"In the past these shows had their vast
majority of views within the first 24 hours. Instead, our shows are
primarily consumed on different days then when they originally air.
Primarily, fans have been binge viewing or watching on demand,
and as a result, we feel we have been expecting our audience to dedicate
what has turned out to be an excessive amount of time to viewing these
shows. (As an example, for
the substantial audience only watching on the weekends, we are
currently asking them to watch five hours of programming to keep pace
with our release schedule).
·
"On ABC the shows shared a large
percentage of their viewers with each other. Yet, the majority of our
viewers are watching one show or the other, not both, and they aren’t
viewing the shows when they did
before. Part of the reason for choosing between the shows may be that
the largest viewing takes place either between 12PM and 1PM (when people generally can only fit one episode during lunch time) or between 5PM and 7PM
(when the vast majority of competing
shows are a half hour long). We are finding that asking most people to
regularly watch more than a half hour per day online seems to be too
much.
·
"During their ABC runs, viewers
watched only 2-3 episodes on average a week and picked up with whichever
day’s episode it was. Our viewers seem to primarily start with the
first episode and then continue
forward episode by episode. Like with primetime serialized dramas as
opposed to the traditional slower pacing of daytime, people feel lost if
they miss an episode. People are starting from the beginning; the shows
are designed for complete viewing from episode
one. Yet starting from the beginning with the amount of episodes we are
releasing is asking too much for viewers who need to catch up.
"The clear conclusion is that while somewhat
mixed, these viewing patterns resemble more closely the typical patterns
of online viewing rather than how one would watch traditional
television. This leads us to believe we
are posting too many episodes and making it far too challenging for
viewers to keep up.
When it comes to online viewing, most of us are just trying to
find time to watch series comprised of 13 to 22 episodes a season-so
asking viewers to assign time for over 100 episodes per show is a
daunting task.
"Therefore, we have chosen to revise our scheduling model beginning this Monday, May 20th
by introducing two new episodes from OLTL and AMC each week- new
episodes of AMC will now
run on Mondays and Wednesdays, and fresh episodes of OLTL will post
Tuesdays and Thursdays.
"MORE, our behind the scenes series, will run as a
single show on Fridays. This allows us to introduce a new episode of
quality television every Monday through Friday
and gives the audience a chance to catch up as we continue to build
awareness and excitement around these new shows. Because Hulu agrees
with our findings, for the meantime they will keep all of our episodes
on Hulu.com for free to give viewers the opportunity
to find us and catch up.
"We know our most dedicated viewers will be upset as
they would probably prefer more shows to less (we personally wish there
were more episodes of our favorite shows; we would love 50 episodes a
year of
Homeland, Mad Men or The Simpsons). We apologize to
these viewers and ask them to please understand we are trying to ensure
our shows succeed and not meet the fate they experienced previously. We
need to devise a model that works for all
viewers and follows how they want, and are actually watching, online.
When it comes to online, as with all new technology, it’s adapt or fail.
We feel fortunate to be an online company and to have such an
opportunity to adapt. Of course, we will continue
to evaluate all the data that comes in and will be vigilant about
revising our strategy as needed.
"We want to be clear that this will in no way impact
our feverish pace of production - we will be filming new episodes
through mid-June, continue editing throughout July and until
we go back into production in August. It’s a frenetic schedule but all
of us are up for the challenge and excited to continue to deliver great
shows.
"As a new venture we felt obligated to address the needs of our viewers head on and to make adjustments that we think will work for our viewers. And as always, we thank you for your continued support and encouragement."
