Today marks the first day of Beta testing for the Hulu service.
We’ve been hard at work on a service that offers a great selection of television shows, clips, feature films and more that you can enjoy for free and on-demand. At Hulu, you’ll find current hit shows like The Office, Prison Break, The Simpsons, Heroes, and many more. You’ll also find a large number of classic television series, including Arrested Development, Miami Vice, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and The A-Team. We’re also going into beta with an initial selection of feature films that includes Conan the Barbarian, Sideways and The Blues Brothers.
Starting today, we are sending out invitations which will allow users to access the private beta at Hulu.com. If you haven’t signed up, you can do so by visiting Hulu.com. As well, this week we’ll start serving Hulu’s content lineup to our distribution partner websites, which include AOL, Comcast, MSN, MySpace and Yahoo.
The team here is excited to gather real user feedback. We’ve made it easy to leave comments and suggestions through a feedback form which can be found next to each video that is played on the site. We’re committed to making the service great, which means that we’ll be reading every piece of feedback and working hard to improve the service each day. You should expect to see us adding more content and more functionality throughout the private beta period and beyond.
Not everyone will receive an invitation to the private beta today, but we will be ramping up the number of invitations to the private beta each week. In the interim, we’ve captured a number of screen shots for those interested. Here’s Hulu’s homepage, which we just pushed live:
On behalf of the Hulu team, thank you for giving us the chance to present this service to you. To a person, this team is extremely passionate about fulfilling what we see as a big consumer need: to enable people to find and enjoy premium content when, where and how they want it. Great content needs to be that easy. Please know that this crew of technologists, user interface geeks, and all-around media junkies will not stop in our pursuit to provide you more and more premium entertainment to enjoy on your terms.
Thanks in advance for your feedback…
Jason Kilar ()
CEO, Hulu
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$1.99 an episode with iTunes was great. I could watch it on any authorized device, and it was encrypted in a way that I couldn’t pirate it if I wanted to. Seemed fair.
Now I can watch it on NO device I want to (no Apple TV, no iPod, no iPhone), and you don’t get my $1.99 an episode.
Do your advertisors really pay THAT much? I would think that the $35-$45 a year PER SHOW I was spending in iTunes was worth more than the nickel or two an advertisor would pay for me to not watch ads, since we all switch to another window while an ad is playing anyway.
Hey – here’s a brilliant idea. DO BOTH. Put your stuff on iTunes, Amazon, and Hulu. Let us pay or watch ads – our choice.
I travel extensively, in fact, I’m only home every OTHER weekend. Hotel internet connections are too slow for live streaming. It’s always a pain. It was worth the $2 an episode to know that it would download overnight, and sync to my iPod. Something about the video hiccups and annoyingly uncomfortable hotel chairs and small desks just isn’t as attractive as my iPod.
At least admit it… it’s ego, stubborness and to a lessor extent greed. You’d rather GIVE it away for free streaming, making pennies on the ads then let US buy it cheap, if it means letting Apple control some of the cost structure.
We weren’t complaining. Nobody cared if the price went down, and NOBODY was going to pay more. $1.99 was working, but unfortunately, your panties got in a bunch.
Heads up: You now make less money.
I’m not even a Mac user, but I do use iTunes a LOT.
I also don’t have cable service in my dorm, so every TV show I watch is on my computer. My roommate and I have iTunes season passes to a number of series.
Here’s my big problem:
Our dorm is in the stone-age technology wise, and there is no WiFi or broadband in our rooms. So, I go to a Hotspot, download the iTunes TV shows, and we watch them on friday nights. It has been a lifesaver for us, we’d go crazy without any TV shows.
So a service like Hulu won’t work at all for us, or the many other people in our building that do exactly this same thing. We used to (still do until our iTunes season pass expires I guess?) have 2 favorite NBC shows – Heroes and The Office. We’d also watch most of the 3 Law & Order series.
We were happy to pay a reasonable price of under $2.00 an episode, over that and we would have probably thought twice. Sorry, a TV show just isn’t like a movie – I don’t ever watch TV shows more than once, and would not be able to justify spending over $2.00 per episode. Which is why iTunes worked for us PERFECTLY.
With all of NBC’s shows off of iTunes, you lost 2 happy and loyal viewers that would have spent plenty of money buying your shows throughout our college years and probably after that as well. No iTunes, no way that we can watch any NBC or other network shows that aren’t on it. I admit that it really sucks, because I especially loved Heroes. But there’s no way we can pay much more than we are/were, or stream shows.
I see lots of similar posts on here and thought I’d share my experience as well. I also hope and wish that NBC would reconsider and at least provide shows back on iTunes as well…I mean, what could it possibly *hurt*? It seems like a lot to loose for them, and nothing to gain. Oh well, guess we’ll all see.
The video quality looks okay, I guess. But, I can’t download it, watch it on my iPhone or iPod, or watch it on my computer when I’m on the road, since its streaming. Why can’t I just download episodes of my favorite NBC shows on iTunes? I am willing to pay, but I am not going to watch ads, I want to be able to watch the show on my iPod and iPhone, and I don’t want the show to get deleted after any period of time.
Seriously, NBC, its time to realize that you are just upsetting your customers, and losing money in the process. I love 30 Rock and The Office, and plan on still watching them on my iPhone while I work out, but now, instead of paying you for it, I’ll probably have to resort to alternative methods, which will be inconvenient for me, and will give you no additional revenue.
After What I read On Cnet news.com, I hope you fail miserably. Not availble outside the US, can’t watch on anything else than your your computer screen. Well forget anything from NBC cause i’m moving back to You Tube
Any chance you will have functionality with the miro player? Perhaps providing an rss feed for each series so we can subscribe to it. You know sort of like podcasts do it today.
That and i can’t wait to get a beta account. Thanks! You rock! Great service!
I want to be able to embed your player on my veoh page and have your permission to place and share content there.
By the time your shows are shown in Europe, I’ve already seen them through a torrent. Your business distribution model is dead. And now you’re trying to perpetuate this model online as well? This is a different world. Take serious breath of fresh air (perfumed with the delightful smell of Apples).
Hmmm….
I can only watch these shows while chained to a browser, and in the country the shows air in anyway.
Effectively, the only advantage is that I can watch the when I want. As long as I am in front of my computer at the time, and as long as I don’t mind a tiny window.
Why is this better than recording the shows on a PVR and watching that whenever I want? On a bigger screen? With the ability to skip commercials? With my family?
There appears to be no benefit to this whatsoever. If I can’t carry it away on an external device, it is actually a step backwards from the TV.
The only benefit I can see is if I am overseas and want to keep up on shows. But of course that doesn’t work, does it.
What is this about?
Wow, this is so groundbreaking! I am truly thrilled by such great NBC original programming!
Just FYI, it’s strikingly obvious which comments are planted by NBC. Don’t you have anything better for your interns to spend their time doing?
I used to buy episodes of NBC programmes on iTunes because I thought the pricing was fair. I also enjoyed watching the shows on my iPod while I commute to work everyday. As such, Hulu does not make sense for me. Further, I do not like the concept of proprietary formats. Based on these 2 reasons alone I see little reason for me to support your pathetic video distribution site.
I agree with the comments from several of the above users:
- “Truly embrace the spirit of new media…which is focusing on your users…”
- “All beggars eventually are forced to steal…”
For now, I have resort to buying pirated DVDs or downloading Torrent files since the NBC shows I like are no longer offered on iTunes.
I can’t believe that just as every model of the leading portable movie player (I think its name begins with an ‘i’) with a screen now supports video–you guys are trying to get us tied to our browsers and stuck with just streaming. It’s a huge step backwards.
Over the last few years I have learned just how superior a commerical free experience is thanks to DVDs. This attempts to put the revolution started by Tivo, DVDs and, yes, that i-thing you hate so much back in the bottle. Not going to happen.
You guys have some good shows. But guess what? There are a LOT of good shows these days. Far more content than time, really. You’re not as special as you think you are.
The only reason I watched NBC shows was because I could throw them on my iPod and watch them when I travel, or hook it up to my TV and watch it there. Now I have to have a broadband connection to see lower quality video.
Use your heads.
This is disappointing for UK viewers such as myself. Someone further up argued that we should not feel a sense of entitlement to American content. I would suggest that these global entertainment corporations are producing worldwide entertainment (in America mostly of course) and that it’s simply the accompanying delivery content, the advertising that pays for this, that is truly local to American. So hey.. idea.. why not build localised advertising deals?! And before you think “well maybe they will, this is early days”, I still can’t buy TV shows/movies through iTunes even now, and countless official media corp sites still prevent me from viewing their content. They are losing out by no catering to this market as well as the US with properly supported local advertising. Surely this is fundamentally obvious?
I think I’m willing to watch a few commercials instead of paying $1.99, so hulu, you have an opportunity. But I don’t particularly like to watch on my computer. Are you going to make me buy a separate hardware device to take it to my TV or on the go? If you do, then forget it.
Will you work with Apple to make your shows streamable to my AppleTV and my iPhone (or iPod touch), like YouTube does? Or is your Mr. Zucker going to keep shooting off his mouth and burn that bridge? Or have you already burnt that bridge, and that explains why your Mr. Zucker keeps shooting off his mouth? Please tell him to grow up, and make it possible.
Great idea! I can watch decent quality shows on my computer… not on my iPod or my TV. You know, where I might actually want to watch them. I quit cable for iTunes and now I can’t get the few NBC shows I watched. So I have to decide, do I not watch them or do I BitTorrent them? Tough call. I can’t believe NBC pulled its shows. They were too expensive to begin with. They cost as much as a DVD without the quality and extras because the networks are so damn greedy. People won’t keep paying you to watch the same shows over and over again. I’m with Gedeon Maheux, no more DVDs from NBC/U.
Here’s the problem. With iTunes I downloaded the shows I missed for one reason or another and put them on my computer and/or iPod. Then I could watch them whenever I wanted wherever I wanted. Having a long commute, catching up on the bus with my iPod was great. Over lunch I caught up on a half season of Heroes. Hulu (which really sounds like what my former mates did after too much drinking on the weekend) I’m stuck watching only from my computer and only when I’m connected. Since my workplace blocks all entertainment sites that will include Hulu.
With iTunes I had one stop shopping, now NBC is trying to lead the networks down a path where I’ll be running from site to site to catch up. No – that won’t happen. Here’s what will happen. Next year if NBC has a break out hit that I wind up missing from the start one of three things will happen: 1) I just won’t bother. NBC looses. 2) I’ll use BitTorrents. NBC looses. 3) I’ll watch on DVD by renting from NetFlicks – NBC mostly looses.
In short – with me – NBC gains nothing from Hulu and I doubt that I am in the minority.
This is just plain effn pathetic.
I have a life, I don’t have time for television and refuse to pay $50 a month to get two programs I can’t get over the air and tivo them (and because I got rid of cable, the Tivo wasn’t really paying for, so it sits in a box).
Luckily, I had iTunes. It meant I could pick up seasons of the 6 shows I watch and get them delivered weekly and watch them on my schedule. I’m almost never near an internet connection when I’m watching, and if I were, I’d probably be doing something productive.
Now this effn Hulu. Won’t work for my Mac. Forced commercials. Forced to be stuck at an internet connection while I’m watching.
You know what? I’m not even going to bother checking this out. I bought the iTunes versions and then the DVD sets so that I can loan them to my friends (i.e., iTunes limits you to your computers only…no dvd burning…it isn’t without faults). Half the series I’ve bought were from NBC/Universal…
Guess what? As much as I hate Torrents, I’m seriously considering them again. No…I won’t do that. I’ll just stop watching. Maybe pick up the crap in the bargain bin in 5 years if I still care.
It is a shame, years ago I was under contract with another large media company. I pissed and moaned about their lack of foresight and went back to the ‘real world’. The former CEO sounds like the jack*** that Zucker is…feeling entitled to anything and everything. It doesn’t matter that he was making a fair profit and his take home salary was enough to feed a small nation, he felt cheated. What a dick. Luckily, I see the new CEO of my old company understanding the future and actually trying to make changes (albiet slowly). Zucker needs to be fired.
Glad to see Fox, however, looking at multiple ways of getting their product into people’s hands…both through this site and through iTunes. I hope that there is a Mac version of this soon. Lots of problems, but so long as there are multiple ways of getting to the programs, I’m happy I can still get what I need (I’ll retract that the minute I can’t get 24 downloaded in a quick and unobtrusive manner the day after it airs).
I agree with all of the iTunes comments. I purchased seasons 1-3 of the Office and season 1 of Heroes. I was planning to do the same this year as well as adding the next season of Battlestar Galactica. I was very disappointed when I read the news that NBC did not renew their contract. I have already sent an email to NBC U with no response. I tried watching the ebedded video and it does looks pretty good, until you click off of the browser window to actually do something (like work) and it gets very choppy. Sorry but this proves NBC is not looking to the future of content delivery. Bring your shows back to iTunes please!
So $15 Million dollars wasn’t enough for you guys from iTunes last year huh? What was the amount you were making for your shows online before iTunes came along? Oh yeah, right. Zero.
Your vision is shortsighted, greedy and anti-customer. If I can’t view your shows on my iPod or iPhone, can only see the last 5 episodes of something, can’t watch them outside the US, have to watch ads and need flash, then I’d say this grand experiment is a massive failure.
Too bad too because I like your content, but I’ll never buy another NBC/U DVD. Ever.
How can I be invited for the Hulu Beta version?
Tks,
Tito
After reading most of the comments on this page I think it’s pretty clear that people want NBC programming on iTunes again. NBC – your just being stupid..
iTunes all the way!
I signed up for the beta, but I was sorry to hear that the service is not available outside of the U.S. *sigh* That leaves me out. We are STILL waiting for the Canadian iTunes store to offer the same T.V. and movie content that the U.S. store does. We are willing and ready to give you our MONEY! And now I learn that your pulling out of the U.S. iTunes store? Stupid move NBC. It’s sad, just too damn sad. Pull it together and get back on iTunes FAST!
One Word – iTUNES! We want to be able to easily download and video video on our iPods, on our TV, and on media other than our computer. We want to do it all in the same interface as our music AND we are willing to pay for that ability – so BRING IT BACK TO ITUNES. I have no interest in watching for or paying for video on the web only.
So…let me get this straight. You’re going to pull content off iTunes because you don’t like Apple’s pricing, and you’re going to give it away free in a more restricted format where you get paid NOTHING?
Wow. You people are freakin’ GENIUSES!
I too just provided my email address to sign up for the beta, without realising it was US residents only affair. I suggest you add a note on the front page that states that fact.
I find it sad that big media still don’t understand the internet medium. I want to watch tv shows in English, no matter where I live. I’m even quite prepared to pay for it, but no company is brave enough to set a reasonable price and embrace the new paradigm shift.
Sad, very sad.
This site just gives me pleasure. It is super-fun to watch a whole industry self-destruct and implode in denial. Start your countdown to bankrupcy… and by the way, NBC? Instead of restricting content, you would do well creating _decent_ content first…
Me? I paid for subscriptions through iTunes. Hulu, however, is horribly inflexible, doesn’t compete with iTunes (let alone torrents) in quality OR convenience.
I am willing to pay to get my shows online.
I am not willing to buy into a locked system that lets you tell me how and when I get to view the content I pay for.
Here’s a suggestion to NBC and Jeff Zucker specifically: If you’re going to back out of iTunes (not in and of itself a bad idea), REPLACE IT WITH SOME BETER IN EVERY WAY, not WORSE in every way.
Only some clueless out-of-touch CEO would ever think to tie his ship exclusively to this dock.
Why it doesn’t available in Europe?! It’s a huge disadvantage.
All the reasons why you will fail miserably have already been outlined to you, dear Hulu.com… I just wanted to add my voice to say that you simply don’t get it.
Will these shows be downloadable and viewable from my iPhone or MacBook without an Internet connection? The appeal to watching these shows on smaller devices is from watching them on the go, without Internet connections, at our leisure. Hopefully you are working on a way to get these shows to work while off-line on the millions and millions of iPods/iPhones out there.
Can’t get it on my iPhone? PSP? Xbox 360? iPod? Laptop? Ahhh, I’m gonna have to go go ahead and say thanks but no thanks. It’s either DRM Free H.264, iTunes, or Torrents. Y’all fvcked up!
no no no, it’s not the good way !
streaming is too much intensive on network.
we need INTERNATIONAL ACCESS, DOWNLOAD and to remove DRM
itunes was a good step and it’s the best software to access media. the easiest.
how can’t you understand people in the world have no reason to support you when subtitles, downloads, and copies are _everywhere_ with HD quality and available the NEXT day of the american broadcast.
you cannot forget that, you cannot suppress that, you HAVE to follow !
–
for me, from France, I can live without yours productions. books, musics and videogames are far enough.
accept internet and GLOBAL market world !
Why is it not available to people outside the US?
Talk about a step backwards. Rather than liberating content, enabling greater choice and tapping additional revenue streams, this is an attempt to put the genie back in the bottle. iTMS was a step forward. Hulu is an attempt to rewind to a time when networks held a strangle-hold on markets. Oh well, iTMS and Bittorrent it is, I guess.
This almost makes me think that you really do want me to pirate NBC/Universal television shows. Web only? No iPod? No download? Easily was worth the $1.99 through iTunes. I watched 3 NBC shows last season (The Office, Heroes, 30 Rock) and one Universal show (House). Now I watch none. That’s well over $100 in downloads you’ve lost. Keep in mind that your marquee draw–The Office–would have been cancelled after the first season if it wasn’t for iTunes availability. Good luck with your obsolescence–you’re doing a bang up job.
Thanks, but no thanks. Your work here is time wasted. As far as shareware is concerned, I hereby donate my $0.00. Spend it well. As the previous poster said: thanks for supporting the PirateBay.
no international access + no way to download episode files = useless
(plus : crappy name)
The geo restrictions are moronic. I know they are studio/industry imposed, but they are still moronic.
To be fair, iTunes imposes the same restrictions. But YouTube doesn’t. Neither do the torrent sites.
I agree with the first poster. If you won’t release this to the world then I will continue to use iTunes with my iPod. The quality is there (not the crappy YouTube quality) even though I do have to pay for my favorite episodes. But I’m willing to pay as long as it’s there and the quality is the same as my TV. The only other alternative is CTV. http://www.ctv.com
We don’t want the internet to turn into TV thanks.
If I wanted a walled garden with scheduled content from only one provider, locked in adverts, limited distribution, and stream-only media, I’d turn on the Television.
Most people would be happy to **pay** for quality content à la carte, with the following provisos :
It can be watched anywhere, on any device (mpeg or similar)
It can be watched anytime (no stupid time-limits)
Archives of shows are available
It doesn’t expire
If NBC fails to recognise that the future of media is global, distributed and ad-free, they will fade into irrelevance, and this website with them.
I want to buy the shows and see them on my iPhone. Is piracy the only solution you are suggesting?
i want to watch these shows from india
i am eagerly waiting to try this watching videos on this website
UK Mac user vs US-only video infested with Windows-only DRM.
NBC – thanks for supporting PirateBay!
I’m a US Citizen studying in Spain. I am a huge fan of the Office, and bought every episode on iTunes. I’ve got it on my iPod and it was a great value.
This service blows- it doesn’t work here (it’s called the internet, guys), and it is of no use to me.
So NBC, here’s some math:
A season of episodes of the office downloaded off of a peer to peer network= $0.00 to you. Enjoy your $0.00, Jeff.
Here in Australia, we get nothing. The TV shows run so far behind, iTunes is not offering TV show downloads. Give us a break and open this thing up to us. Even a restricted catalog for other countries would be better than nothing. You have a chance to one-up Apple in the distribution of online videos internationally, don’t blow it!
Also, are the files able to be saved to disk? If they are, then that is awesome. Otherwise, you might want to think about bringing it in, I would not pay for something that is only available online, what about when i am away from the net?
This seems like a step backwards for media. I have gotten so used to watching the TV shows I like anytime and with whatever device I have around me that even at no charge this service seems overpriced. Streaming will never be convenient while most of my time is spent without or on slower than ideal internet connections. Embedded video players will never have the ability to play on my TV or iPod.
I guess the assumption is that, since Youtube is successful with a web-tied distribution model, all other video content should be distributed similarly. This logic neglects the fact that Youtube videos and television shows are not enjoyed in the same manner. Youtube is popular for short clips of low quality that are often used to take short breaks from everyday drudgery while television shows are used to wind down once we have broken away from that drudgery.
So, no thanks. This “service” just hinders my enjoyment of television by getting in the way of more convenient and user-conscious alternatives.
@David P:
I like the way you’ve destroyed their carefully-crafted site. Obviously their programmers have not heard of the overflow property.
Hulu: Seriously? You expect your audience to watch TV shows from within a web browser? This isn’t YouTube, where most videos are 3-5 minutes long. And what’s with limiting your international audience? Oink may have fallen, but there are tonnes of other BitTorrent sites, and I can assure you that your shows are being pirated as I type, and that will continue at the present level unless you address the concerns raised in the comments above.
A nice start,
but you can’t really enter into competition with Apple by aiming lower. They’ve set the bar for international availibility (for US travellers at least), portability on the most popular playback device, ease-of-purchase, selection and increasingly, image quality.
You should attempt to beat them in most of these, otherwise you’ll just get crushed by piracy.
The strategy of through-website distribution might work for portability in the near future, but as of now, neither the iPhone nor the worlds largest mobile platform, Nokia phones, are capable of showing your content on-the-go. This, I think, is a huge oversight from your part, if not a critical mistake.
Figure out portability and the rest might just follow.
Here’s why Hulu doesn’t “get it”:
1. The internet is a global phenomenom. People all around the world receive the same promotional material and hype for a new TV show, movie, or game. Of course they want to see it, but despite the marketing being global, the distribution isn’t. Stop teasing and frustrating your potential international customers. They *want* your content. Let them have it at the same time as the US.
2. Streaming is fine for short clips, but for whole TV shows it is a bad idea unless you offer a downloadable version. Otherwise, users need a computer and a decent internet connection to watch it without buffering, and it’s impossible to watch it in comfort on the main television, or whilst commuting with an iPod. People are used to doing this and they like it, and if you won’t provide the means to do so, they’ll find another way.
3. Long video commercials don’t work. If I have to wait a long time (more than 5 seconds is a long time for the fickle web surfer) to see the content I wanted – which I do if video commercials *and* buffering is involved, I’ll go find it somewhere else. Streaming isn’t scheduled broadcast television – it’s “on demand”.
*sigh*
Greedy, greedy media corporation dinosaurs…
*sigh*
Things were moving in the right direction – iTunes was the first great step in a gentle revolution.
*sigh*
You can’t beat torrents with draconian, unilateral, impersonal stream-based services. People want to be able to watch things at their leisure.
*sigh*
You are just going to send your fans back to the torrents!
:shame:
If I was Apple I would start to make content. Steve Jobs has already has an amazing, proven track record with Pixar and Disney.
I await your sad demise when he does…
US only. Pointless.
Good job guys, you just made your content less accessible for legitimate customers and have driven everyone outside of the States back to pirating your shows. We are happy to pay the money for this content – either figure out what the hell you’re doing or give it back to iTunes who _do_ know what they’re doing.
No show, no cry here in Europe.
But blaming iTunes for your problems puts the bad image back on you.
Steve different.
Guys,
please, don’t forget the international viewers once again.
Don’t let us wait for the episodes to cool off and get dubbed. That sucks. Let’s just pretend this is the internet and we all can xs content on equal terms.
Oh and btw. get your act together and get back to iTunes.
It is clear from reading other comments here that there is HUGE demand for Hulu to be an international platform.
The challenge that entertainment companies have is that they have distribution agreements which prevent this. However, I was working with IBM on their website strategy ten years ago when they faced a similar dilemma. IBM didn’t want to sell computers directly online because it would conflict with their channel partners. However, as we have seen, it is inevitable that businesses accept this customer demand. Once IBM started selling directly online they realized great sales and none of their distribution partners bailed on them.
We have lived with the Internet long enough to realize that the best business models start with a global model. That is truly missing here. Often entertainment companies think that the English language websites are only of interest to the US market. This is far from the truth, though. When I was working with DreamWorks Animation on their website, we discovered that a full 40% of visitors to their website were from outside of the US. That is a market share that one can’t ignore. What Hulu needs to do is to use an ad insertion technology that allows them to target the ads in the shows towards the local markets, but to not restrict viewing by geography. It would be great for them to also be able to sell ad space across geographies. If they want to share revenue in local markets with their distribution partners, then that is up to them. Additionally, it is not a huge issue to embed multiple audio tracks. This would allows anyone in any market to listen to any voiceover that they want to. A British family Italy could hear the English version and a Chinese family in Kentucky could here the Chinese version (if available.). However, I know that many markets would be very glad to get just the English version.
If Hulu were to make this leap I am certain that they would revolutionize the media market! However, their is an incredible amount of fear in this industry. They are afraid of losing what they used to have. Rather than making bold steps and adopting the new possiblities they act more in a protective manner.
Hulu is interesting, but there isn’t anything here that couldn’t have been done 20 years ago. Unless they change their business model, they will never really become significant. It will be relevant for a small market, but it will never change the industry for the betterment of the industry and the customers.
Dear NBC,
You currently have too many morons employed in key decision-making positions. Please eliminate one. (Zucker? I know you don’t think so good. That was a modified reference to a line from a Simpson’s episode and you’re the butt of the joke!) As for Hulu, I’m sure we’ll all remember it fondly as the “iTunes Store Killer” just as we remember the Zune (Hey…did you hire the guy that Microsoft fired for coming up with that turd of a name?) as the “iPod Killer.” Lastly, a note to NBC Universal Douche Jeff Zucker (Or is it Zuckercorn…remember Arrested Development? Of course you do…word has it it’s going to be available on Hulu. Make sure you watch the episodes with Barry Zuckercorn (Henry Winkler). He was replaced in the third season by Bob Loblaw (Scott Baio), a hilarious reference to Happy Days. Remember Happy Days? No? Me either. I loved AD, but some asshat at Fox pulled a Zucker and decided not to listen to viewers): I know you’ve been trying to avoid hearing the voice sanity at all costs, so turn down the volume on your iPhone and take out the earbuds. Take some time out of your busy schedule of burning bridges with profitable companies who have great track records for anticipating and creating consumer demand and read all these posts left here by viewers of your content. Read quickly, this lead balloon, Hulu, is going to outweigh your golden parachute.
Site looks pretty sweet, waiting for an invitation now to test this out :) Keep up the good work Hulu people.
Please just come back to iTunes. I was happy paying for shows I could watch on my computer and I’m not going to muck about with this crap.
Yet another major player makes a decent stab at providing online content to the masses and fails in almost every major respect. The world has changed whether you like it or not. The consumer is in command (as they have always been) and have regained the power they originally had before the technology forced them out of the equation by not allowing them to choose when and where to watch their favourite content.
The worm has turned and technology is now flowing against the business model that has worked so well for you up until this point. Advertising revenue earned by charging vendors for peak times and popular shows has been undermined. Many consumers never really cared for the machinations of the advertising companies and given the choice they will mute, fast forward, edit out, skip, and walk away from advertisements during their favourite shows.
The new business model charges for the show itself and gives the media to the customer so they can watch it when, where, and in the manner they like. In order for this consumer utopia to occur you need to change your entire business model and the industry that has matured around it.
Attempts like this will only further push people (especially those who live overseas like me) to obtain their entertainment via other avenues. This leads to fewer viewers watching your networks, fewer advertising dollars, and ever shrinking margins. Before the entire thing collapses there will be a white knight, but it may not be you.
There are 2 places I watch television shows:
1) On my television
2) On my iPod/iPhone while I’m on the go.
Notice something missing there? Notice how I didn’t say “on my computer”? Watching the Office is cool and all but I’m not going huddle around my work desk with my friends and family: we would like to watch things on a television. And I can’t really stream your shows to a computer as I ride the bus: my iPhone is much better for that.
So seriously, how the hell do you propose I watch these shows? Here’s your answer: make them downloadable and playable on iPods/iPhones/Zunes/whatever. Put ads all over them if that’s what you really need to do, but this streaming on a computer only thing is just going to drive people to piracy if you don’t start offering alternatives.
That said, the quality and interface seem pretty good. Build on that.
Another + for iTunes here… this hulu shit is the dumbest thing I’ve seen. Good luck on getting the masses over here. I love how in your recent comment you mentioned that Apple has been selling hardware off the back of your content… that’s not quite the case…
You’ve been selling content (or Rather Apple has been selling your content) on the back of its hardware, that is to say, People buy the hardware because they love it… they buy your shit because it works on their hardware and they love it…
I’m too busy to try to make your ignorant asses understand this, not that you ever will, I’m off to BitTorrent to download my shows that I used to be able to just buy on iTunes…
why can’t the broadcast industry see straight?
you’re never going to succeed digitally if you don’t make your content convenient.
it’s really that simple, and i simply no longer watch your shows.
i know i’m not the only one.
“Why in the world would Hulu allow the world to watch their shows (which are incredibly costly to produce/stream/etc.) if there aren’t foreign advertisers on board (yet) to pay for it.”
How about because most of the advertisers are global companies and advertise globally anyway. There also happen to be more than 5 million Americans living abroad. But if you really want to put up virtual borders around your website, at least have the sense to put up a disclaimer. Or else don’t act surprised when people are angry or dissappointed.
It’s very easy to understand why these shows are not available outside the U.S.
At the moment, the U.S. government has a policy that all non U.S. citizens need to be fingerprinted before entering the country.
Now the big worry here is because the internet is a series of Tubes then people are going to be able to squeeze themselves down these Tubes, and create terrorist havoc. The probable exception is Saudi Arabia rather than Canada. To piss off Canadians.
what the hell is wrong with you guys?
if you weren’t so greedy it wouldn’t take this industry as a whole what seems like freaking ages to develop a distribution model that works.
apple -did it for you- and you thumbed your nose.
no one is watching you any more.
It seems so backward for a service like hulu to restrict not only international US Citizens from accessing content merely because they are offshore, but also to restrict the service to a purely web-based format. Has it occurred to anyone at hulu that a pay-subscription based service is already fighting a losing battle? The simplicity of iTunes makes it an accessible service and offers a simplistic and cost effective service – both for Apple and the consumer.
Convergence across devices is what’s driving our world at the moment. Adapting both content and adding accessibility is what is making the media world thrive. Take that away, and the world will find something else to do.
MORONIC MOVE CHECKLIST:
1. Whine about iTunes pricing. CHECK.
2. Pull shows from iTunes and lose that revenue. CHECK.
3. Set up shows on Amazon with same pricing. CHECK.
4. Decide to re-invent a square wheel and build own Web site for selling shows. CHECK.
5. Tell the rest of the world to piss off. Ave Bush. CHECK.
6. Ignore the prevalence of media players and move to a streaming-based model for TV sales. CHECK
Sorry, there’s just one thing to say:
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
*cough* *wheeze*
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I only watched Heroes and Lost from NBC but haven’t bothered since the new seasons are not available on iTunes. I refuse to watch commercials and will never pay more than what iTunes pricing had for lower quality than DVD.
The Internet is global, why on earth would you even consider making an embedable video player widget that only works if you’re in the states?! Legal reasons aren’t an excuse, it’s your content, you can licence it as you like.
I want to watch The Office from Australia without having to stay up late, please fix that problem.
Wow, this is good news! I hope to be part of the beta.
Terribly terribly disappointed in Hulu and the whole problem that is the reason it exists. NBC just clearly doesn’t understand what people want. I for one sincerely hope that Hulu fails. I’m sure you’ve all done a great job, but I just like the iTunes model better.
Oh my god, I’m watching a full episode of Airwolf. A man is playing a cello on a dock by a lake. We hear an eagle’s cry as it swoops through the frame. A woman in a sweater has been watching the majestic scene unfold, and she claps. “That was lovely,” she says to the man.
It is revealed that the man is training the eagle. Somewhere, a synthesizer plays.
please tell me this is a bad dream!!! seriously, just let us get it the old fashion way…i T U N E S
Funny. iTunes and torrented TV-Shows never had to be “sorry for the inconvenience”.
Please give up already and put the content back to iTunes. Frankly, this is nothing short of embarrassing.
Please don’t release this outside the US!
I’m totally fine with continuing to BitTorrent all the TV shows that I couldn’t even pay for if I wanted to. You’re just making it easy to sleep at night.
How much clearer can it get that NBC just doesn’t get it?
Can we get an option for fullscreen? Flash supports this.
mike
I don’t mean to be rude, but this is more useful to me on iTunes. At least the video could escape the browser.
But in any case, I’m in NZ, so I don’t have ANY legal alternative. I shall bittorrent whatever I want, until I see the content become available locally, conveniently, and affordably, and hopefully DRM-free.
Laterz NBCtards
I applaud your effort to provide current show on the net. However, I am very disappointed that you have chosen to deny access to U.S. Service Members serving overseas. We would love to get some recent U.S. TV shows but services like your’s continue to deny us access based on our location.
Is the web real freed the demographies. I dont think so.
I from Chennai, TN, India unable to view the site. Why people try to split by demography on web?
Save Web!
Windows only… USofA only… DRM infested…
Yeah, sure, way to go.
You may end regretting those $15M you sneered at.
Time to short GE and buy some AAPL and GOOG.
thanks
It’s actually funny watching all of you miserable idiots bash on Hulu. This is beta people! They wouldn’t need to launch a beta testing if every detail was ironed out perfectly today. The notion that they should have stayed with iTunes… even though they weren’t given control of the pricing for their own content, is insane. They OWN the content, come to their site to watch it, or break the law. In the online environment, they don’t care at all. If you haven’t noticed, and judging by your reactions thus far, network executive don’t WANT to encourage online consumption of their shows yet. They’re making way too much money offline with their ancient distribution model where advertising metrics can’t be accurately tracked and they can still charge whatever they want. They have to effectively monetize their content online before they start actually fixing your complaints and promoting online consumption.
“”"”"October 30th, 2007 at 07:15 AM Hi Guys! this is a really a blast idea! i love it! i am from Dubai and just saw the news in the news paper and i immidiately check it on the net…can’t wait to watch all those movies!!! very good idea! you must be proud guys……^_^ i will tell all my friends…hee hee”"”"”
It’s not going to work in Dubai….
For those of you (us) outside of the US, just use a proxy service to access this site (or any other damn site trying to block you because of where you’re from) if/when you get your invite.
Google “proxy” to find a proxy site (easy peasy). Once at the proxy site, you’ll be able to enter the web address you want, and, ta-dah!, you’re in. Big corporations trying to control the internet… *sticking my tongue out* You don’t get it.
I love the quality of the videos. You have the content and you will win.
Since everyone who has a cellphone uses a Tivo, I was wondering who would watch tv shows with commercials. After 5 years of never seeing a commercial change is good. I think marketing is living in a cave somewhere.
Nice! Leaving the Mac platform and a new standard. Yeah that worked great for Sony. I can see the music industry and US networks have fallen right back into the same old “sit on a mushroom” and let the world go by philosophy. Nothing like building up a big customer base then dumping them because 15 million a year isn’t enough. I can see Jeff Zucker is fishing for a new job. Maybe GM will make him CEO.
good stuff guys the one episode of the office was nice but when is the rest of the site opening. its nice to know i can stop using other sites. u.s.a. today said it would be a few months before the final launch. step your game up!
Hi Guys! this is a really a blast idea! i love it! i am from Dubai and just saw the news in the news paper and i immidiately check it on the net…can’t wait to watch all those movies!!! very good idea! you must be proud guys……^_^ i will tell all my friends…hee hee
Go back to iTunes! Hulu is destined to fail! Your customer base wants iTunes. If you don’t give your customers what they want, we will be come your competitor’s customers.Its not like we don’t have other choices. Until you return to iTunes, I’m not watching NBC programming or buying any of your advertisers products! Its very simple – give me what I want as a customer, or I’ll take my business elsewhere!
Being from Australia I am still waiting for i-Tunes Australia to sell TV and Movies downunder. I only trust Apple with my on-line purchasing of content.
I’ll just stick with the free to air TV and use my eyeTV to record it if needed.
I will only spend $$$ on i-tunes.
Good interface. Play back is a bit jerky (on 3MB connection). Seek feature appears to “lock up”, though this in on the blog video post of the Office so it is understood if it is a preview w/ limited bandwidth.
Name of site/concept has very little retention pay back. A poor choice IMO, but I am no expert (thought google was dumb as well).
Interesting concept. I hope it works out.
I would really like to be a part of the beta testing.
I signed up for the beta test back in August but no invite yet. I hope I will get it soon so I get a full feeling of it. What I can say for now though is that it looks pretty good. To people outside of US, sorry :( but that’s how it is. Many other things are only available just for Europe or Asia. I am sure if the owners have interest they will spread it throughout the world.
Good job hulu!
Hopefully, your Saturday Night Live videos will be way better to access than the current NBC SNL site debacle.
sound like is going to be very interesting, specialy after works hours, work breaks, lunch, retirees well i am just waiting, i have plenty of time to see it. good luck
I looking to see if Mountain View is gonna take their gloves off for this one. You tube really has a long way to go, and i don’t mean a streamlined look in their player, the .flv based files are pittily compared to some other sites, i’m looking for an in for this fo’ sure.
“While most are dreaming of success, winners wake-up and work hard to achieve it.” -someone sometime.