Hulu (News - Alert), which up to this point has used a "no incremental charge" model for its ad-supported streaming content, is going to change its model, adopting a "sell through" model approach where a customer has to subscribe first to a video subscription service before having access to Hulu content.

That is not too surprising, and is the same model used by "TV Everywhere" approaches that require a user to subscribe to a video entertainment service first, and then get access some of the streamed content they have access to as part of their video subscriptions.

On this approach to enabling wider streaming support, the interests of distributors and content owners are aligned, at least for the moment. Neither party wants to risk undermining the video subscription business, and yet neither party wants to risk the exposure of opposing streaming, either.

The sell through model protects the former while enabling some amount of the latter. As proposed, the deals would have viewers authenticating with some credentials showing they are current video subscribers and then getting some streaming access, according to the New York Post.

The move by Hulu toward the new model is said to be the reason Providence Equity Partners sold its Hulu stake.

Fox, owned by News Corp (News - Alert)., also is expected to begin talks soon with Comcast on a TV Everywhere deal that will require authentication. Plus, Philadelphia-based Comcast is expected to switch to an authentication model for this summer’s Olympic Games.

Some would argue that what TV watchers want is a la carte Internet-enabled show options. The ability to watch all the shows they want online, whenever they want, without paying for ones they don't want, would have uncertain and probably negative impact on the revenue currently earned by video subscription services and presumably content owners as well.

One gets the sense this is a "hybrid" model that ultimately could change over time. For content owners, the key decision is how and when it becomes a reasonable risk to stream directly to any end user willing to pay for content access, in a revenue-neutral way. 

Video distributors are considerably more exposed, as such a move would threaten not only their revenue potential but their role in the ecosystem.