Interesting: Hulu

December 1st, 2007

Despite all my personal biases as to why I should avoid Hulu like the plague, I have to say it works well enough, and I’ll use it in the future.

Why I really want to dislike Hulu:

1. It’s the product of “old media” broadcasting corporations — the television folks who tend to not “get it,” and based on past evidence, this website from News Corp. and NBC should suck hard.
2. NBC pulled many shows out of iTunes Store, which I love, and moved them to Hulu. More specifically — it’s a sure bet Battlestar Galactica will appear there next year instead of iTunes. For this alone I should be pissed enough to boycott Hulu.
3. I’ve complained before that I don’t like intrusive ads and I am willing to pay for a download to avoid them. Hulu is streaming and they stick ads in there. My mouth becomes dry and I scowl.

But why I will begrudgingly use Hulu:

1. Without iTunes, my only options are piracy, watching video on a site without legal rights to the content, or go back to terrestrial television. I try hard to be honest, and the last option is somehow defeatist.
2. It’s free. I find with the price point of zero I can tolerate the few ads (which I completely ignore) if the content is compelling enough for me to stick with it.
3. The site is clean, easy to navigate, and the video interface is competently designed.
4. Content is king. I actually want to watch these shows.
5. There’s a full screen option. I can hook the laptop up to the television.

So basically, I feel the good points of Hulu outweigh the negatives.

This year I think old media finally woke up and is starting to “get it” — from USAToday to Newsweek and now Hulu. I’ve been visiting ABC.com to watch their streaming video, and I’ll likely turn to Hulu for NBCs.

The big, old boys can easily add streaming video to their sites — and they hold legitimate rights to the content. Companies like Joost really need to up the quality of the content they’re providing — start lining up agreements for more and more currently running programs — or their appeal may fade.