Fox Puts Streaming Behind Paywall

If you "cut the cord" and canceled cable when Hulu came along, you may have to wait more than a week after new Fox TV shows air to watch them. Starting Aug. 15, Fox will only allow Dish Network or Hulu Plus subscribers to watch its shows online immediately after they're broadcast, the Los Angeles Times reports. Everyone else will have to wait eight days. In New York, Margaret Lyons calls the plan "ridiculous," considering that "in regular, not-Internet life, those with and without the Dish Network can watch Fox programs on DVRs whenever they please, with equal impunity."

Most Fox shows used to be available free the day after airing, albeit with commercials. Fox will be the first broadcast network to implement the new strategy, known as "authentication," of pushing online viewers to pay for a cable or satellite service. The Times notes that the move is ironic, since Fox's parent company was one of the two media conglomerates that launched Hulu to fight Internet piracy—and Hulu's success is now seen as costing the networks billions in cable revenues. ABC may be working on a similar plan, Lyons notes. (More Fox stories.)