The term "captive audience" generally refers to a group of people who are obligatory viewers of a particular program or message. In the context of Hulu, a captive audience is a group of users who are required to view advertising content in order to access the free, ad-supported version of the Hulu platform. The captive audience on Hulu is made up of users who would not normally choose to watch commercials, but are forced to do so in order to use the free version of the platform. This can be frustrating for users, as it interrupts their viewing experience and ultimately diminishes the value of the Hulu platform.