last100 » Hulu

Hulu explains its lack of love for PlayStation 3

Steve O'Hear — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:28:44 +0000

It’s for your own good

Users who are complaining that they can no longer access the online video site Hulu on through their PlayStation 3’s web browser are being given an official explanation. The short version: it’s not Hulu’s fault per se but the result of keeping content owners, who don’t want the service to compete with revenue generated by traditional television distribution, happy.

(It’s worth pointing out, however, that Hulu is the property of many of those same content owners – so they kinda are to blame, albeit indirectly.)

Moreover, in the short term at least, it’s a price worth paying, says Hulu, as they help wean the studios off of the release windowing system – “a movie starts in theaters, then moves to pay-per-view and DVD, then to pay-cable channels, later to broadcast, and so on down the lin” – that has proved so lucrative to-date.

… in the near-term, the windowing strategy is still dominant in the business. Billions of dollars flow in across these different windows, and entire companies are organized around them. Nothing productive comes from flouting that reality…

That business model, however, isn’t sustainable in the long term, says Hulu, due to “the rise of the web, increased broadband availability, the ease of digitizing video, and the increase in the computing power of devices like gaming consoles, set-top boxes, and mobile phones.”

We do, however, expect these windows to converge over time. There’s no way around that, and we’re working hard with all of our partners to guide and participate in this important transition in the business.

Everything we do is with an eye toward achieving our long-term goal of maximizing the content you can access as conveniently as possible in a way that “works” for the content owner.

In the short-term that may require us to make some tough decisions, but we only do so when we believe it improves our long term prospects to build a more enduring, legal solution to that same problem.

(via Gizmodo)

---
Related Articles at last100:

Joost admits ad-revenue defeat, trying white label biz model instead

Steve O'Hear — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:35:05 +0000

After rumors of a third change in direction, Joost, the Internet TV startup that just won’t seem to die, has announced plans to focus less on its own online video portal and instead tout the company’s newly launched white label service to “media companies, including cable and satellite providers, broadcasters and video aggregators.”

In other words, the company, which was founded by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis of Skype fame, has conceded that ad-revenue alone can’t pay the bills and, instead, hopes that Old Media will.

Interestingly, on the same day as Joost’s announced change it direction, it’s been reported that rival Hulu alone boasts 10 percent of the online video ad market.

---
Related Articles at last100:

Hulu really hates the TV, PlayStation 3 blocked

Steve O'Hear — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 15:17:26 +0000

Based in the UK, I don’t have access to the US-only video site Hulu. But if I did I’d no longer be able to access the studio-backed Internet TV service on my PlayStation 3.

That’s because, following the Boxee fiasco, the game console has become the latest means by which to conveniently watch Hulu content on a television to be blocked, reports Engadget.

Users who try to visit the site via the PS3’s built-in web browser are being greeted with the message: “Unfortunately, this video is not available on your platform. We apologize for any inconvenience.”

For those of you who aren’t up to speed on this story, Hulu, which provides a way to watch content that mostly originates from the TV, online, doesn’t want you piping that same content back to the TV. (I know that sounds counter intuitive but bear with me.)

The reason is because that would upset the television and cable networks who fear that being able to do so might be the final push viewers need to dump their TV subscriptions altogether.

While it can’t – yet – stop you hooking up your laptop or any PC to your otherwise dormant wide screen TV, any software or device that makes it more convenient to push online content to the TV is a no no as far as Hulu is concerned.

---
Related Articles at last100:

Hulu takes on Boxee (sort of) with its own desktop app

Steve O'Hear — Thu, 28 May 2009 19:12:39 +0000

Hulu Desktop

You’ll remember when Hulu decided to block desktop Internet TV browser Boxee for having the audacity to provide a better user experience for playing back the online video site’s content on a television. Content that originates on TV in the first place! At the time Hulu defended the decision, citing the requests of content owners not the policy of the site itself. And yet today, Hulu have made available their own desktop application (Mac and Windows) that features a “ten foot” user interface designed specifically for operating with a remote control, providing a much better experience when viewing Hulu content via a PC connected to a TV.

Hulu Desktop is a lean-back viewing experience for your personal computer. It features a sleek new look that’s optimized for use with standard Windows Media Center or Apple remote controls, allowing you to navigate Hulu’s entire library with just six buttons.

You can download the Hulu desktop app from the site’s new “Labs” section. Don’t think about running Hulu Desktop on anything other than a PC, however, such the AppleTV set-top box, unless you’re cool with breaking the software’s terms of service (via NewTeeVee).

---
Related Articles at last100:

Hulu goes social, it’s all about the ads

Steve O'Hear — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:56:19 +0000

Right in time for its first anniversary, video site Hulu has announced that it is dipping its toe into social networking. Similar to competitors CBS-owned TV.com, Joost and Sling.com, the NBC Universal and News Corp. joint venture is rolling out a feature its calling ‘Hulu Friends’ whereby users can create profiles and, optionally, share their viewing activity with other members of the site. Contacts/friend-lists can be imported from both Facebook and MySpace, along with popular web-based email services, such as GMail.

The upside for Hulu, presuming they can persuade users to join yet-another-social network: As paidContent notes, “the direct sharing of video preferences and content within Hulu will make it much more easy to track what individuals are watching and hence, make them more targetable for ads.”

---
Related Articles at last100:

Hulu blocks Boxee, could Firefox, IE and Safari be next?

Steve O'Hear — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:50:28 +0000

quick intro to boxee from boxee on Vimeo.

The news that Hulu has asked Boxee to remove access to its content is ridiculous on many levels.

Not least is the fact that, in relation to Hulu, technically speaking Boxee is just a web browser that happens to be optimized for a ‘ten foot’ or TV-like viewing experience rather than for when you’re sat directly in front of the PC. And crucially, since Boxee has yet to license its software to set-top box makers or build a box of its own, the only way to get Boxee content onto a TV is via a PC (aside from running Boxee on a hacked AppleTV). Once the PC is using the TV as its monitor, any content can be displayed on the television, including using a standard web browser such as Firefox, IE or Safari to access Hulu or any online video site. All Boxee has done is design a better browsing experience for when you’re sat further away. In other words, Boxee alone doesn’t enable Hulu to be viewed on the TV, it just makes it more convenient.

In terms of the business case, Boxee hasn’t done anything wrong either. It doesn’t remove the ads that are embedded in Hulu content, no does it run ads of its own. Its only crime, as already stated, is that Boxee has made it more convenient to view television content on a PC connected to a TV. Oh the irony.

Hulu says its not their fault that they’ve had to block Boxee, but it’s at the request of content owners who license their content to the site. What they’re afraid of, it seems, is that if television content online can be conveniently piped back to the TV, users may cancel their cable TV subscriptions or equivalents altogether. This, of course, is happening already – thanks to the Internet – and stopping Boxee alone won’t hold back the tide. The Boxee software is cool an all but it ain’t that revolutionary :-)

---
Related Articles at last100:

YouTube adds select TV shows from CBS; takes aim at Hulu for long-form video content

Daniel Langendorf — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:52:05 +0000

We wouldn’t call YouTube a sleeping giant necessarily, but when it comes to long-form video the world’s dominant video-sharing site certainly seems to be cat-napping.

Other sites such as Hulu, the joint venture between Fox and NBC, have been getting much of the long-form video attention and name recognition, whereas YouTube remains known for short-form content that lasts 10 minutes or less.

Google, YouTube’s parent, is seeking to change this as it has added select full-length content from CBS in an attempt to take on Hulu and attract other network content to YouTube. [YouTube blog]

Available full-length shows include 20- to 48-minute episodes from CBS’s past and present lineup, including “Star Trek,” “MacGyver,” and “Beverly Hills 90210.” The season premiers of “Dexter” and “Californication” and current episodes of “Young and Restless” will also be shown on YouTube.

To improve the viewing experience, YouTube has introduced a new player for long-form video — known as Theater View — which plays video in a less pixelated 16:9 format. It’s no where near as nice as watching a full video on Hulu, but it may suffice for most viewers.

“When you go to full screen you can actually kick back and watch it,” Shiva Rajaraman, senior product manager, told AdAge.

To support the effort, Google is also experimenting with advertising [see NewTeeVee]. The content will be supported with pre-, mid-, and post-roll ads. YouTube will get a revenue cut, but neither CBS nor YouTube would discuss the terms of the agreement or revenue sharing.

If long-form video gains traction on YouTube, the balance of power — already in YouTube’s favor — will shift even more toward the Google property.

YouTube served up 5 billion videos in July, representing more than 44 percent of online videos viewed in the U.S. The next closest competitor was Hulu, with a share of 3.9 percent.

The YouTube giant has 330 million users, according to comScore, while Hulu has just 3.3 million. Even so, Hulu’s relative success with long-form video content has caught the attention of the cat-napping Google.

---
Related Articles at last100:

Amazon’s Video on Demand service poised to give Apple’s iTunes a run for its customers

Daniel Langendorf — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 05:49:46 +0000

Say goodbye (and good riddance) to Amazon Unbox and say hello (and welcome) to Amazon Video on Demand.

Amazon launched its new video streaming service Thursday. After a quick downloading and viewing of the TV show “Eureka,” we say Amazon Video on Demand is a worthy contender to Apple’s iTunes.

For one, Amazon’s new video service works where Unbox failed — it plays on Macs. And, another plus, the video starts steaming instantly. A big improvement over the boxy Unbox.

Like Apple’s iTunes, Amazon Video on Demand will offer rentals for $3 to $4 and movie purchases for $10-$15. Most TV episodes are $2 each, with season passes available at a small discount.

A big advantage Amazon Video on Demand has over iTunes is that it offers NBC content, some of which is available free on Hulu, the joint venture between NBC and Fox. The VOD content, however, does not have commercials and is more consistently available, depending on the show.

Another semi-advantage Amazon Video on Demand has over iTunes is that content will play on some Sony TVs and TiVo DVRs, as well as on Windows Media Center PCs and Microsoft’s Xbox. iTunes TV shows and movies only play on Apple devices like the iPhone, iPod touch, iPod with video, and the AppleTV.

Of course, that advantage is also a disadvantage for the millions who own those Apple devices. Another downer is that Amazon Video on Demand lacks HD content, a deal-breaker for many living rooms and home theater aficionados.

The question is this: Does Amazon Video on Demand have enough sizzle to rock the video side of the iTunes Store? Maybe, maybe not. We give it a decent shot, however, as video on iTunes hasn’t dominated like music on iTunes.

Amazon’s music store, MP3, has steadily moved up the ladder to become one of the top online downloading services, but it’s far from unseating iTunes from its lofty perch.

Video is a different story. As it stands today, Amazon Video on Demand isn’t enough to rewrite the rules, rerouting viewers from physical disks to online downloading. But Amazon’s presence — and its consumer muscle and brand — is certainly enough to keep the video streaming business model moving forward and give iTunes a run for its customers.

---
Related Articles at last100:

Warner Brothers to turn on TheWB.com; watch Veronica and Buffy for free on the Web

Daniel Langendorf — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 03:51:39 +0000

No matter what the shortcomings of TheWB.com are, it’s always nice to see more free, legal TV on the Web.

Warner Brothers announced it was resurrecting its defunct WB television brand as TheWB.com back in April. It will be available for all to see Wednesday after an extensive beta period.

At the time we liked the fact that a TV exec, Bruce Rosenblum, got the whole TV-on-the-Web thing. “We can’t stick out head in the sand and not acknowledge that there’s an evolution taking place,” he said in April.

TheWB.com is rich on content if you like older programs such as “Friends,” “The OC,” “Veronica Mars,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” and “Angel.” It even has full shows of “Friends,” “Gilmore Girls,” and “Veronica Mars” that cannot be found on Hulu, the joint-venture online video site from the NBC and Fox networks that will compete with TheWB.com for viewer attention.

TheWB.com will also feature a number of made-for-the-Web programs, including “Jeannie Tate,” “Whatever Hollywood,” and the upcoming “Sorority Forever.”

Chris Albrecht of NewTeeVee was blessed with a sneak peak of TheWB.com in action and concluded that, “Though the content is good, the confusing interface makes one think that the WB stands for Why Bother.”

TheWB.com does not have the clean, easy to navigate interface that Hulu sports, Albrecht concludes, although it does have a decent search engine and a way for fans to mashup selected clips from each show.

“It’s actually a much better experience watching WB programming on Hulu than it is watching it on TheWB.com,” Albrecht writes.

Ouch.

Kudos, though, go to Warner Brothers for putting TV content online for free, even if the interface needs a bit of work.

---
Related Articles at last100:

Moving to No. 8, Hulu continues to impress and gain viewers

Daniel Langendorf — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 06:43:58 +0000

There were many skeptics, myself included, when Hulu first launched in March. But since then, the online video site owned by Fox and NBC has continued to impress and gain viewers.

According to new stats from Nielsen [via paidContent], Hulu now ranks No. 8 among the Top 10 online video sites, generating more than 105 million streams to more than 3.2 million unique viewers during July.

That puts Hulu ahead of No. 10 Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network and No. 9 CNN Digital Network. Hulu is a breath away from No. 7 ESPN at 106-and-change million streams. Hulu reached No. 10 just a few months ago.

Of course, Hulu and every other video site known to man trails the Web’s No. 1 video service, YouTube, but that’s OK. YouTube offers a mix of professional and user-generated content, while Hulu is mostly Hollywood, baby.

Amazingly, Hulu continues to gain viewers without much promotion from Fox and NBC, who you’d think could throw in a quick spot for Hulu somewhere in its 24/7 Olympics coverage.

Hulu, perhaps by design, silently rambles along, even when adding heavyweight content like Viacom shows “The Daily Show” and “Colbert Report.” The shows by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert regularly account for a large percentage of the most-viewed TV episodes on Hulu.

The summer series is also a nice touch. I subscribed to the RSS feed and was continually surprised at the quality of content, depending on one’s tastes — “Lost in Translation,” “Angel,” “Raising Arizona” in June, “Men in Black,” “The Fifth Element,” “Coffee and Cigarettes” and “The Dresden Files” in July, and “Madmen” in August. Unlike other online offerings, I actually looked to see what new content was added.

We’ll see what happens over the next six months, but it sure feels like Hulu is figuring out a winning formula for professionally-produced video on the Web — even though it’s far from perfect.

---
Related Articles at last100:

Hulu update: Days of Summer, adding more viewers, Stewart and Colbert

Daniel Langendorf — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 03:02:22 +0000

There is a reason they call it the dog days of summer. It’s hot. TV is all repeats. Except for blockbuster weekends like Memorial Day and July 4, summer movie releases can be pretty bad. The kids, off school, even get bored watching YouTube.

Hulu, the increasingly popular online video venture brought to you by NBC and Fox, is fighting the dog days of summer with Hulu Days of Summer, introduced this week. From now until mid-August, Hulu will release a “premiere” program each weekday, hoping to entice viewers to drop by to see what’s new.

The first week of content isn’t bad — the movie “Lost in Translation”, “The Three Stoogest Collection 1934-1936″ (perfect summer fare), the movie “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “Nova,” and “Bring it On.” Upcoming days on the calendar are represented by a simple question mark.

A nice touch: Hulu is providing an RSS feed. Subscribe and every weekday a new movie or TV program is delivered to your reader. Interested in watching? Click on the link and go directly to the movie’s or program’s Hulu page.

Also subscribe to Hulu’s blog if you want to see why a particular movie or program was chosen.

Hulu continues its climb

The Nielsen Video Census, released today for May online video viewing, notes that Hulu continues to improve its numbers, while other online sites remain stagnant.

Nielsen said that overall online viewing fell about two percent from April to May. YouTube dipped ever so slightly from four billion total number of streams to 3.8 billion. No need to worry, though: YouTube still accounts for more than half of the online videos watched by Americans.

At the same time, Hulu saw its usage grow from 63 million video streams in April to 80 million in May, a 27 percent increase. With unique users up 13 percent, it looks as though more people are watching Hulu.

Hulu became the ninth most watched online video site in mid-March, although it remains light years behind world leader YouTube.

[via Silicon Alley Insider]

“The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” on Hulu

In another move to generate more viewers, Hulu added the supremely popular “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” last week, giving each program wider distribution. Unlike elsewhere, viewerscan pick out their favorite segments from Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert and email to friends.

Unfortunately, all of Hulu remains landlocked in the U.S. and not available overseas, which is just plain stupid, wrong, short-sighted. (See The Inquisitr post.) But then again, us yanks don’t have access to BBC video programs, unless we buy them on DVD or, if offered, from iTunes.

Let’s make a trade: Hulu for BBC content.

---
Related Articles at last100:

Post-Hulu: ABC.com to revamp video player

Steve O'Hear — Thu, 22 May 2008 17:01:20 +0000

Having been the first out the gate among major U.S. broadcasters when it started streaming full-length episodes back in 2006, ABC is learning a thing or two from Hulu, the new video kid on the block backed by NBC and Fox.

This fall ABC.com plans a major upgrade to its video offering by adding features including “full-screen viewing, closed captioning and the ability to send video links that can be embedded on blogs and social networks”, reports Hollywood Insider. In contrast, Hulu has offered users the option to embed videos elsewhere on the Web (albeit for a limited time period) and full screen viewing from Day One. Closed captions are also available for some of Hulu’s content — although not nearly enough.

Also see: Internet streaming: five U.S. television networks compared

Earlier in the week we reported that Hulu has overtaken ABC in terms of the number of videos viewed and hours consumed per-month. However, Hollywood Insider notes that ABC still trumps Hulu in terms of unique viewers. Part of the discrepancy in the figures is that Nielson Online’s consumption stats (number of videos and hours watched) presumably count Hulu content syndicated on partnering sites.

Additional user interface enhancements to ABC.com will include “new navigation and search features that allow users to comb series offerings graphically, alphabetically or by genre or popularity.” And when users choose to embed ABC videos elsewhere or send a link to a friend they have the option to cue the video to a particular scene mid-episode.

NewTeeVee clarifies: Users still can’t embed a full video clip onto their blog or social networking profile, just a link to ABC.com.

ABC’s new player will be launched in a closed beta over the summer before launching ahead of the network’s premiere week in the fall.

---
Related Articles at last100: