Hulu Is Planning a Big Move to Screw Over Cord-Cutters

The Wall Street Journal reported recently that Time Warner Cable and Hulu have been discussing the agreement that allows Hulu to upload new television episodes the day after they air. Apparently, Time Warner Cable thinks this set-up “is harmful to its owners because it contributes to people dropping their pay-TV subscriptions, or “cutting the cord,” to which many of us say, “duh.”

Unfortunately, it seems that adjusting distribution rights and the ability to stream current television programs is happening all over the place. BBC pulled Doctor Who off streaming services recently, horrifying legions of fans.

Cable companies will do well to heed the generation-wide millennial move to cut cords and stream television shows in lieu of paying for channels. It’s not a phase, and most of the audience members Time Warner Cable is trying to control will simply return to torrenting and illegally streaming their television, if Hulu is rendered useless. If that sounds like a threat, that’s because it is. The New York Times reported back in October that one quarter of Americans 18-to-34 don’t buy cable packages after moving out of their parents’ home, and that number is going to rise. You can’t stop the future, cable companies, so you might as well let us keep our day-old episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Empire. Most of us won’t get married until we’re 45, nor will we be able to move out of our parents’ basements, so this is all we have.