Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Hulu: An Experiment In Convergence?
by
Monday, NBC Universal and News Corp launched a beta version of Hulu, characterized by some news stories as big media’s attempt to wrest control of online video away from YouTube, Brightcove, Revver, Revision3 and what seems like a bazillion other online video start-ups. They are doing this by offering premium content, or to use traditional media’s terminology, “premium programming” to an online audience that wants TV delivered via the Web in a less programmed structure. In other words, Hulu presents people with the opportunity to time-shift and place-shift their viewing options.
Both News Corp and NBC Universal built their empires on programming the consumer was willing to pay for (via advertising). It appears this is an attempt to protect what has been a wonderfully profitable TV business model as traditional programming migrates to the “Wild West” Web environment.
Many pundits proclaim this as an example of the convergence of TV and the Web, but I don’t see this as convergence at all. It is simply TV programming offered to the public via a different connection. Digital distribution direct to the consumer via Hulu, certainly offers some advantages and allows for a number of interesting features in this new service, but this is nothing like YouTube. YouTube is about you; Hulu is about them (big media). YouTube is offense; Hulu is defense. People can’t upload their own content to Hulu. Hulu isn’t about the video frontier. It’s simply about adding a new dimension to an established format.
The new service claims to let you “share your favorite videos via email or embed them on your own website,” but it will be interesting to see just how much these networks will let go of their programming so you can share in the Web 2.0 sharing environment. I can’t comment on that because I haven’t used Hulu. I’ve signed up for the beta, but haven’t received an invite yet. At any rate, it will be interesting to see how big media will do in this environment, especially given the fact that Hulu was started through the joint efforts of two staunch competitors in the traditional media world. Venture capitalists have already invested north of $100 million into this effort, so someone’s already placed a big bet on Hulu’s success.
