Today is filled with breathless Hulu.com news because it goes live Wednesday. Wait, you thought it was already up? Nope, that was just a test launch. 
But what truly confuses me is why in hell this online video joint venture of News Corp/Fox and NBC Universal -- which will also include Warner Bros TV and Lionsgate (and two sports leagues) and possibly Viacom and CBS in the future -- doesn't violate any anti-trust laws. Here's yet another way that Big Media is becoming Behemoth Media by colluding with each other -- this time, on the Internet. On Wednesday, Hulu's launch will offer more than 250 TV series and 100 movies. By 2009? Probably everything else showbiz. In the clutches of a dozen moguls. And won't web consumers rue that day.
You’ve got a point Nikki. Yet another thing on President Obama’s plate next year.
Comment by mheister — March 11, 2008 @ 4:26 am
Um, Nikki, don’t worry. Hulu sucks.
Want to watch three 45-second clips from SNL? Be prepared to watch a 15-second ad before all three.
If YouTube had that model, well, there wouldn’t be a YouTube.
Comment by Jamie — March 11, 2008 @ 5:50 am
Well it will be a big deal if Hulu actually lets people sign up and login on Wednesday…today the site is having login errors for people like me who have access to Hulu via its private beta. And it’s still only accessible to US users…except of course for Hulu’s blog (open to anyone at http://blog.hulu.com/) which has hundreds of posters from outside the USA demanding to be let in or else they will have to go back to their pirate sites to get their US TV episode fix. Crazy, huh?
Seriously what I saw behind the login wall weeks and weeks ago at Hulu is pretty ho-hum stuff…there’s a lot of it but it’s still not very interesting. Five clips from Law & Order Criminal Intent…how sad…there’s more CI content available on the USA Network site.
But whatever…the WKRP episodes are those crappy 90s syndication versions with the original music deleted. I’d pay good money for the real intact versions from the 70s and 80s but Fox is too cheap to put them out.
Comment by VDOVault — March 11, 2008 @ 6:04 am
Ad-supported television content!? I don’t believe it is a viable business model for the past 50 years.
Comment by Danny Cohen — March 11, 2008 @ 6:05 am
I agree with all of your points… but it’s so easy to use! And the video quality is good! And they let you customize the length of clips you embed!
Comment by Aaron — March 11, 2008 @ 6:19 am
Don’t worry, Hula will not be a big hit. If there are bug as of tomorrow, most people will likely be turned off. Also, let’s not forget Google’s power. A video search for “The Simpsons” at Google Video will likely turn up everything at YouTube and Google Video before even getting close to the first piece of Hula content.
BTW, while there might not be a bug, there will be a big crash because all the morning shows will be covering the launch of Hula, and only God will know how many people will try to log on as of 9 AM Eastern. Even if the site eventually fails with the moguls losing millions, you can forget even trying to access the site by 10 AM Eastern because the servers will likely be super overloaded.
Comment by Jessy S. — March 11, 2008 @ 10:05 am
i’ve been watching hulu for a few weeks. it’s great. get over it. if you miss an episode of house there it is. want to watch this seaosn of 30 rock go ahead. i’ve watched both of unhitched and now am watching the sho. same with new amsterdam. the 15 seconds of commercial are very unintrusive and not nearly as anooying as i thought they’d be, hulu works.
Comment by larry — March 11, 2008 @ 12:11 pm
I do like Hulu for the higher quality video, and the embeddability of very recent shows. Most folks I know who used are extremely unimpressed by the selection. Hopefully the amount of competition online is so great that the issues you’ve raised here will not become too pressing.
Comment by ProgGrrl — March 11, 2008 @ 12:26 pm
don’t worry, Hulu will ether fail or start charing for their content to make money. hey it’s a business thing, you got to spend money to make money.
Comment by Will Henderson — March 11, 2008 @ 12:57 pm
Their biggest mistake is in limiting their market to the US only. The Internet is international. And the rediculous part about it is that Canadians cannot access it, even though they can turn on the TV and get the same episodes–if not many of the same channels–as the US.
Old ways won’t work with the Internet. They can’t expect to keep making money selling international rights when the Internet makes borders irrelevant.
Comment by Patrick McNamara — March 11, 2008 @ 1:43 pm
Disney is reaping $1 billion online. Works worldwide which Hulu doesn’t, nowhere near the amount of clutter, ease of use, etc…Also, I hope the ‘larrys’ of the world give FOX the wrong spin on crappy shows such as Unhitched as much as NBC took Quarterlife for a wrong turn.
Comment by P. Lee — March 11, 2008 @ 2:16 pm
Just another example of Old Media misunderstanding how to effectively use the Internet.
Comment by Brett — March 11, 2008 @ 8:16 pm
Guys, advertisers don’t want worldwide runs. Nor do any of the agents/managers in town. If one of our clients appears on a shitty webvertisement for a shitty microbrew, he/she can’t appear for the big bucks Bud spot a month from now.
Also, NBC and Fox have deals overseas to show show on OTA channels there though they usually come to air there 6 months to a year after they originally air. Do you REALLY think the German TV station paying $4 mil/year for The Office (or whatever show) wants to lose market share and product value to people watching the show in the internet before it is LEGALLY allowed to hit their own airwaves?
If Fox and NBC allow them to air the shows with no more than a week lag time and can target the webvertising regionally expect it to change.
Nikki, the ‘big media collusion’ angle is old. In the ’90’s when this was deregulated no one raised a peep about it. Bitching about it 15 years later seems a bit suspect to say the least.
Beside, I don’t see how NBC and Fox both having sites that show their shows is any different than one site showing their shows. The traffic and content offerings at a single site will only serve to drive up ad prices up which should make WGA/SAG & DGA members happy since they are getting a cut (will be getting a cut) of web money now (however meager it may be).
Comment by manny — March 12, 2008 @ 3:38 am
Bump for Manny’s comment above.
Hulu could be the best thing that has happened to viewers. Instead of having to fork out $9.99 for a show on iTunes, users can watch them as they should be - essentially for free with a few ads.
i’ve stopped watching network tv (unless TiVo’d) because the ad breaks are insufferable. This will allow me to finally care again about shows.
Finally, there just might be a web business model that works!
Comment by 6 66 — March 12, 2008 @ 9:00 am
All the negative comments were a really big surprise to me. I haven’t watched TV for over a month, cancelled my dish and told all my friends about HULU. Have watched Master and Commander, Broken Arrow, Into The Night, Me, Myself and Irene, The Mask, Captain From Castille, totally addicted to Miami Vice.
Random access to news stories which interest me without having to wait through other stories in a linear broadcast format is just great. Can replay my favorite Famly Guy scenes whenever, the site remembers where I was at if I had to go off in the middle of a movie and puts me right back there when I log back in.
And this is just the start. More Miami Vice seasons please.
Comment by WRAY EDWARDS — April 15, 2008 @ 7:39 pm