Hulu Losing Count

Hulu is a nice, convenient website. The problem facing them is the fact that most networks allow you to watch their latest TV shows on their website, which would eliminate the fact for people to go over to Hulu.

[...] Do number really matter when it comes to Hulu? [...]

Actually, Michael M, individual networks’ sites isn’t a real threat to Hulu. It’s a real PITA to have to go to various sites, navigate different systems, sometimes wade through promo videos, to find out what content they have, and finally decide what you want to watch. Hulu provides convenience, of having it all in one place, and that makes a big difference, especially since they have a very good subscription system, which most network sites don’t have.

Plus, if network sites were a threat to Hulu, then Fox and NBC, which started Hulu, wouldn’t have kept content on their individual sites when they invested in Hulu.

Also, we are now in the time of year that has a lot of season finales – perhaps that could have an impact on the numbers?

You know why the numbers dropped? They secured the site to not accept people OUTSIDE the US even using a Proxy.

Despite comments on Podcasts about cutting the cable because all the commentors need is Hulu, people who actually watch real tv will notice very quickly there is alot MISSING from Hulu’s television line-up. Now recent agreements may change that, but a mainstream tv viewer who arrives on the site today will probably find more programs missing than present and will still have to go to every individual cable channel web site to find all their favorite shows. Or the might find their show, but discover that only the last 10 episodes are kept on Hulu. There will be no catching up on series discovered late. And you cannot ignore the movie side. While it’s all the rage to bash the oldness of Netflix’s on-demand service, the movies on Hulu are generally awful and what good films are there expire quickly. Hulu for movies is bad, for television is lacking. Having said all that, this season I watched all of Fringe on Hulu and found it a completely pleasent experience. The foundation is there, get the content and they might get the numbers.

I have to agree with Devon. Their numbers dropped because they now block people that are trying to access Hulu with a proxy.

Here’s my two cents on this.

I really don’t understand what they’re doing. Here, in Canada, the majority of people have NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX and a lot more US channels in their cable or satellite lineup (NBC, ABC, CBS being also available OTA (over the air) in some places).

So, I really don’t know why that they’re blocking us, even when we can get the same shows with the same ads free OTA (or cable satellite) but not on Hulu. They say they have to clear the rights in other countries for each show but aren’t the rights already been cleared if the shows aired in that country (e.g. Canada). I also think that the same would apply for individual channel website (NBC, ABC, FOX and so on…)

I had high hopes that the Hulu Team would accept Canadian viewers right at the beginning but now it’s been two years since Hulu launched and the only information we get from them is that they are working so that their contents would be available all over the globe.

So. Is Hulu really working on this? Does it really takes more than two years to reach a consensus about the rights of a TV show to be shown on a website (even if this show is already available on plain regular TV)?

Have a nice day!
polo200

I still feel watching TV on a computer screen is still more novelty than mainstream. I can’t do it… and I’m a tech guy. I like to sit back in my recliner and watch on my plasma. So I hookup up my media center pc, pull in OTA HD to PVR and everything’s good. But there’s so much more content out there that I can’t get over OTA. Services such as HULU would fill the gap nicely… (lets leave Sat and cable companies out of the discussion for a sec) Now I live in Canada, and can’t get HULU (and many of the other online content services)… not their fault really, but a pain… but what if I could get it in Canada? Now if I want to watch I have to pull out my keyboard and fumble through navigating a web site… which brings me to what I think is the next hurdle for these online content sites… interface. The more convenient it is for a user to access these services through traditional TV like navigation (boxee, media center, apple tv), the more acceptable they may become. And if they are accessible to a wider audience through hardware alliances (like Netflix is doing with XBOX 360 and LG) then usage could explode. But then do users really want another box beside their Direct TV or Comcast box to just watch free online TV? How many users would give up their cable or sat if they could get it free through HULU or other content providers? How many users with computers would hook it up to their TV? Will cable and sat companies allow this to happen? (Yet another hurdle). I’m excited to see what will happen over the next few years…

G