“I always like to look on the optimistic side of life, but I am realistic enough to know that life is a complex matter.” — Walt Disney
Later this week, Hulu’s content will no longer be available through Boxee. While we never had a formal relationship with Boxee, we are under no illusions about the likely Boxee user response from this move. This has weighed heavily on the Hulu team, and we know it will weigh even more so on Boxee users.
Our content providers requested that we turn off access to our content via the Boxee product, and we are respecting their wishes. While we stubbornly believe in this brave new world of media convergence — bumps and all — we are also steadfast in our belief that the best way to achieve our ambitious, never-ending mission of making media easier for users is to work hand in hand with content owners. Without their content, none of what Hulu does would be possible, including providing you content via Hulu.com and our many distribution partner websites.
Our mission to make media dramatically easier and more user-focused has not changed and will not change. We will not stop until we achieve it and we are sober in our assessment that we have such a long way to go.
The maddening part of writing this blog entry is that we realize that there is no immediate win here for users. Please know that we take very seriously our role of representing users such that we are able to provide more and more content in more and more ways over time. We embrace this activity in ways that respect content owners’ — and even the entire industry’s — challenges to create great content that users love. Yes, it’s a complex matter. A tough mission, and a never-ending one, but one we are passionately committed to.
For those Boxee users reading this post, we understand and appreciate that you’re likely to tell us that we’re nuts. Please know that we do share the same interests and won’t stop innovating in support of the bigger mission.
Jason Kilar (),
CEO, Hulu
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Jason, I think the title of your post says it all- its a tough spot between corporate interests and the consumer demands. In the short term I think people will still enjoy Hulu as its still a great experience in its online form. Over the longer term, this obviously has to be addressed as the convergence in the living room continues and grows..m
Though we have had a professional check our internet connection and set up a profile with Hulu, no matter which show we click on we continue to receive the following:
” Sorry, we are unable to stream this video. Please check your internet connection and try again.”
Please advise.
Thank you,
M.H. Elliott
no sound from hulu on my computer
i receive sound from other stations
i
Mr. Kilar your thoughts make perfect sense and I agree. The best way to win this battle is to show your willingness to work with the networks. I am sure all rasonable people understand that your great idea and admorable ambition is not leverage to try and play hardball with network giants,
I would like to thank”K2″ for wasting all of our time! What kind of issues one must have to spend ones days searching blogs for a type-o, mispelled word or a grammar slip.
Hulu worked fine (smoothly & in sync) with my iMac G4/800 15″ (2002) from 9-08 to 8-10-09.
OS 10.4.11, Firefox, FLASH 10, AT&T Yahoo!”Pro” DSL (2.57 mbps)
1GB RAM, 32MB of Nivida Geforce 2X AGP VRAM, 7200 rpm HDD.
Ever since then Hulu takes half an hour to get up to speed….. be it TV or Movies.
EVENTUALLY it plays fine, and then next program is also fine.
What gives??
Jesse F. Carroll
what is so hard about inserting ads into the flv stream and allowing any client to watch it?
The users are blaming the wrong guys. Hulu doesn’t hold the copyright on any of the content they make available to us. The person who wanted to know “what happened to the little startup……” should realize that when HULU was the new kid on block and they were flying under the radar, it was much easier to make loads of content available. Anyone who had illusions of that situation going on unchecked was kidding themselves. As soon as the networks took an interest in what they were doing, I knew things would change.
You should commend HULU for their efforts to bring us the content, while still remaining in the good graces of the networks and on the right side of the law.
Label HULU practices any way you choose, but realize that if they don’t play by the rules they’ll get crushed by the networks. The fact that they are still up and running says a lot.
I’m sure any one who is out there chanting “fight the man!!” will be welcome to hire on at HULU provided you are willing to accept resposibility for 100% of the extremely large lawsuits that will follow when you “fight the man” .
Hulu, thanks for trying. I miss someof the content we’ve lost but I still watch regularly. I appreciate your efforts.
PS. K2, are you friggin’ kidding me? regards, from someone who could care less about the poor guy’s grammar.
Dear Hulu,
you should have had the willingness to support YOUR interest by supporting YOUR viewers; instead, you bowed to the networks.
What happened to the innovative little startup with a disruptive technology and the right attitude? Did you stop to think about what a move like says about the commitment to your value proposition? I know that you will simply color me as yet another (insignificant) comment on your blog.
So long,
Brokenhearted
P.S.: Remember the old adage about the satisfied versus unsatisfied customers telling their friends? That was before the social media factor. You do the math!
It is unclear to me specifically, what about displaying Hulu feeds through Boxee would cause either Hulu or its content providers to lose a financial opportunity.
If the content providers’ ads work on Boxee it shouldn’t be the content providers. Boxee is just an appliance / viewer tool and nothing else.
If Hulu can and intends to come up with a better media center appliance / viewer tool than Boxee, then great, consumers will have more choices… after all Boxee has quite a few shortcomings. Nevertheless, in the interim, Hulu should logically still be trying to get their content to the largest audience possible.
So this all makes no sense… I would like to see Hulu declare their reasons in clearer terms that consumers can understand and believe. Otherwise I am afraid as others have said, we have to assume by exclusion that this is points to some deceptive or dishonest corporate culture issues.
Please share this with Mr. Kilar:
I am viewing you on Charlie Rose. PLEASE learn NOT to use the term “regard” as “regards”! It is not correct AND diminishes your credibility. This is a decades-established effort on my part. It is important. It is “with regard” … “in regard” … it is not “in regards.” Stop it! It makes you seem juvenile. The only time you add the “s” is at the bottom of a letter — and that is a different term.
Seriously,
K2
I just started watching Hulu. Found it easier than trying to find episodes “somewhere else”. But I wanted to use my OWN front end not the desktop or browser. I’m more than willing to watch the commercials… In fact, I even voted on them to show support for the “new” TV format. Alas, you force me back to finding other sources for my programming. No, networks, it won’t be cable. And don’t kid yourselves…. The stuff that passes for entertainment these days is not worth too much effort to find. “If it ain’t easy and it ain’t my way, I ain’t watchin”. Oh, and if I ain’t watchin’ I ain’t putting eyeballs on your precious commercials either.
So sad I slowly am seeing the erosion of our Constitution being dismantled piece by piece till soon we will have nothing left to save but ourselves. I also hear that our “puppet masters” also want to make the internet just like our televisons, and we will no longer have free domains to see what ” WE, THE PEOPLE..”want, it will all be controlled just like our television.. Then I read your letter, and I hope people really stop being so submissive to what is going on…wake up !!.Open your eyes, research everything and anything you can, and do something ;because “WE THE PEOPLE..” are still in control here…stand up for your rights as an American and for your families and friends!! Question these people who are taking those things away from us and get answers…
[...] with the recent news and events about Hulu content being taken off of Boxee because Hulu’s content partners [...]
Hmm. Is it true? :-)
Regardless of any steps that Hulu and its partners may take, the internet will eventually shut down cable tv and everyone will say good riddance. People will not accept the ridiculous anti-capitalist arrangement that cable companies have with government, where people have no other option for service than the one appointed to their area. I wouldn’t accept having only one choice in anything, and entertainment is no exception. So until the greed stops, I will be pirating everything possible, and recruiting anyone i can to join me….i have already moved 2 friends and 1 family member off of cable. Please join this fight, teach people how to get content without paying for cable and lets shut these money hungry ass-wipes down for good!
I think hulu.com should take this one step further and limit viewing hulu to Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0. Let’s limit the audience as much as possible!! That will show the consumer who is boss.
Boxee and Hulu and the like just seem to be getting things back to the way they were. Doesn’t anybody remember way back in the day when cable was first started? Cable initially was advertised as “Pay for TV, so you don’t have to watch commercials anymore on the Free TV networks (ABC, CBS etc.)” TV was free, was always free for the major networks broadcasting because it was supported by advertising. Cable stations you paid for were supported by your subscription and offered no commercials in return. Then they slowly started trickling in some commercials here and there until we were paying for ad-ridden television. The original model was pay for no ads, or don’t pay and sit through ads. Paying to sit through ads is just silly.
The current model is just greedy, and the market will right itself with or without the support of big business TV. If you don’t want your content downloaded illegally, stop making everyone jump through hoops to watch it.
Hulu team… please continue to push this issue. There are still ways of doing this of course (video cards with hdmi / svideo) but that’s not the point.
Everyone else… Allow me to play Devil’s advocate for a moment. Content providers are afraid that people will stop watching shows via local networks where multiple local and regional adverts take place. When you say “I don’t even have cable anymore” you reaffirm their concern. That’s exactly why they want the content restricted to the “small” screen only.
Hopefully a comprimise will be reached that will not result in a pay service. That will only result in piracy.
This is terrible news. After the superbowl I thought the future of Hulu was bright. But my loyalty lies with Boxee – the combination of Hulu and Boxee is and should be the future of media. I though Fox and NBC finally understood the new media model – guess I was wrong.
This is insane – I just got boxee, JUST so I could watch hulu on my TV instead of huddled around a laptop. I agree that I can’t see the harm in viewing the content (ads and all) via an interface that does no harm to the content. It is not downloaded, only streamed similar to standard browser access. What is the point? Please state who we need to contact in order to complain numerous times.
Count me as another boxee user who will never use hulu again.
FOX and NBC can’t bear to part with their old model of doing business and so will die in in the long term. So be it.
It is amazing on how stupid the “old” industry can be, not being able to learn from mistakes in the past.
This whole Boxee episode reminds me of the failed attempts of the music industry to stop online sharing.
It’s a typical case of a patient in denial. This is a new era and TV industry should embrace technology.
Ill be glad to watch your content providers ride this economic depression right into unemployment.
I am neither a Hulu or Boxee user. I follow the new trends in watching content. I believe the real reason for the content providers asking for Boxee to pull of the Hulu content is because the minute these shows are able to be viewed on television, the studios and content producers would have to pay residuals to actors, writers, directors, and backstage locals, IATSE,( the people who actually make the content). These are all members of unionized Hollywood locals (WGA, SAG ,DGA, and IATSE. In a year when multiple union contracts are being negotiated, the biggest contention is “new media”, (ie. paying residuals from new media). Which the studios don’t want to do. Hulu and Boxee fall under that definition. Bottom line it comes down to money, the studios want to keep all of it.
In this economic climate, the Hollywood studio conglomerates are unlike the failing American auto industry and more like Exxon Mobil and Chevron, making record profits at the same time complaining that they are hurting.
All your complaining and blogging will do no good. The best thing you can do is email or write the APMTP (the producers association) and demand that they negotiate fairly and in good faith, with the Hollywood locals, which they have not done. Demand that they put the Hulu content back on Boxee.
Can’t say how dissapointed i am to hear that, i recently purchased an Apple TV just for the Boxee Functionality. Without access through Boxee i will no longer be interested in Hulu content. It’s a shame that the content providers don’t understand that through the boxee interface we’re watching the same content but this time we’re WATCHING the ads instead of time shifting through them. we’ll go back to getting our content the way we were before which does not benefit the providers in any way.
Very sad
There’s nothing to be said here that hasn’t already; just wanted to add my protest on the record. Please get this stupidity reversed ASAP!
Hey, has anyone told Apple how this might hit their wallet? Boxee (with Hulu) was one of the few reasons I was actually considering an Apple TV. Now if we get Apple just as pissed off as the Boxee users, we might actually get somewhere.
I’m confused about how viewing from Boxee is different from a browser; I’ve only used the latter once so I had to make sure more ads weren’t added. I had never used or heard of Hulu outside of Boxee which I have two elderly families and my own home running almost entirely on, good thing I haven’t canceled cable.
I loved your superbowl ad but unfourtinaly will have to stop mentioning it to send a message to your ivory tower content providers.
Hope you can work something out, please let us know what we can do to help, I would be willing to watch an extra add or two.
The content providers really don’t want Hulu to succeed then, do they? I wonder why they are funding Hulu at all? Is it really just so they can ultimately “prove” that on-line distribution won’t work, and get a tax write off on their losses? Hello?
I loved watching Hulu on Boxee, on my AppleTV. And I would sit through the commercials (unfortunately, far too many of the SAME ONES repeated over and over, at poorly selected points in the program, but I was willing to live with it. These ad interruptions counted as impressions for ad revenue somewhere, right?
I am not going to watch Hulu on my desktop or laptop. I want it on Boxee. If Hulu isn’t available to me, I will simply find other content elsewhere. The reality of the world is that there is NO shortage of content.
As a result of the decision to remove Hulu from Boxee, Hulu looses my eyeballs and ad impressions. The content providers loose ad revenue and mind-share. If there is something I really must watch I’ll get it from Netflix, or maybe I’ll just pirate it because they piss me off.
Jason,
While I am not a boxee user, I was thinking about setting up an entertainment center based on boxee. With that said, I will quit using hulu.com until this issue can be resolved. While you are subject to your content providers, I make choices as a consumer. I will encourage my friends that use hulu to do the same. I do realize that this puts hulu in a bad place but I think your content providers will only see the value of working with open source distribution with these actions. I think your site hits will fall dramatically until this issue is resolved, and I hope you do fix this issue. I will be waiting to see if you can fix this, however if you do not, I will discontinue use of your site and encourage my friends to do the same.
Great job at taking 30 steps backwards Hulu. Who’s your consultation firm over there? They’re doing a horrible job. I’ll assume that you have no consultation with a move like this. I will now be forced to not update my Boxee on Friday and I will remain being able to view Hulu. Thanks.
Just to add one more: somebody is totally nuts.
I have a Media Center hooked up to my HDTV with a lot more recordings than I can manage to keep up watching(4 HDTV tuners and 2 analog). I am also a Netflix subscriber with a ton more content reachable in few clicks away. The reason I was watching so much content delivered by hulu.com through Boxee was because of the innovative UI and their way of reorganizing the content already available through the web interface. I also have family spread out in US and it was easy for all of us to stay in touch with our TV viewing patterns (didn’t know my brother has started watching so much reality TV). In any case this just signals a turn in hulu.com that will steer me far away from what they have to offer. Netflix is adding more TV shows lately and I hope they continue to do so. I am willing to pay the monthly fee there since they are building the “HBO of the future”. Hulu.com is going to be remembered as a great attempt, but too many NBC dinosaurs were pulling the strings in their puppet show… and as cute as Jason is trying to sound, unfortunately after this change it is apparent he is nothing more than a puppet. And Jason if you can’t use this user outrage to revert this stupid call, you may want to get out of there if you don’t like these strings.
Aside from the obvious (Hulu being OWNED by the content providers themselves–NBC/FOX)this is yet another example of a brand (Hulu), whose ads paint them as ground-breaking innovators (thanks giant PR firm, fancy commercial director guy, and millions of $$$$!!) being nothing more than a new (green) face for giant corporation executive idiots to hide behind.
How soon they forget the lessons of the music industry. They tried to control distribution this way too (although they didn’t say it as nicely as Jason). In the end we won. Oh, and Steve Jobs too.
Viva la Boxee!
Just for the record, I end up seeing far more commercials by watching Hulu via boxee than by watching on the website, by a factor of 10 easy. Sad to see the marketing foolishness…
Hulu and it’s content providers cannot make a penny from Boxee users except for ads. I can guarantee that Hulu will start licensing it’s service to LCD TV makers to have Hulu pre-installed in their LCD TV’s. Boxee is nice for us users, but it’s a like a “pirated cable box” for the providers.
My usage of Hulu increased with Boxee. That in turn introduced Hulu to numerous friends. Now the solution reverts to using EyeTV to record, editing to eliminate ALL commercials and viewing on AppleTV.
Seems like a net loss to Hulu’s advertisers. One wonders how well these moves are thought out?
you know, this is so stupid. I was finally watching most of my tv shows on hulu instead of via torrent downloads….content “providers” need to understand that if they refuse to change, piracy will get worse
if Hulu is a step in the right direction then boxee is a leap …it was an attractive alternative to downloading via p2p. I can still get hulu on my tv but it’s not worth it to me if i have to close my media center of choice. I like most boxee users who know better, will just rss feeds and bit torrent to get my shows with “limited commercial interuption” and by limited i mean none.
I really liked hulu, and i understand that to do what you do legally you have to work with the providers but also you need to make sure they hear us. They should know that the internet kids will get thier shows free one way or another. It’s like i told my 15 year old girlfriend’s father when i was 17
“you can either let me see your daughter at your house where you know what’s going on, or you don’t allow me to see her at your house…and i’ll just sneak her out the back door when you’re sleeping”
and believe me, i did
Not going to repeat what others have said here… it has all been covered quite accurately. I can say that you and your content providers are indeed missing the boat here by not providing alternative interfaces into your content (boxee, Vista Media Center, XBMC, etc). It always shocks my that you would purposely try and limit, yes limit the amount of exposure to your content and in turn ad revenue. Idiotic.
i am very disappointed with this decision from the ‘content providers’ to remove hulu support from boxee. i love hulu. in the past i would hook up my laptop to my television just so i could watch hulu with my family. boxee made that a whole lot easier. we dont mind the ads built into hulu because we are watching quality programming. they are one of the few places online that figured out how to do this intelligently. unfortunately this decision from the ‘content providers’ will point me in the direction of pirating your content from other sources… and i have a feeling a lot of other boxee users will do the same. and you know what, when i find the content from other sources there are no ads or commercials built in… so you content providers are losing out…
Not sure what the content provider’s problem is with Hulu being accessible from Boxee?! Think it’s a little short-sided to remove a feature that provides a larger viewing base for the content providers. Since it appears that the content providers are concerned with the inability to make $$$ off Boxee, why can’t this option be offered as a fee service? Not that I would be thrilled to “pay” for a service that is offered for free via a “web browser”, but it would follow the same model as Netflix on Boxee. The folks at NBC should watch their Today Show which featured Boxee and Hulu as cable alternatives for this “tough economic climate”!!!! It would be nice to get contact info for Boxee users to voice their complaints to the content providers, instead of grilling the folks at Hulu.
Disappointing, but I thought this was a thoughtful response to the problem. I hope that this can one day be resolved. I guess it’s back to more Netflix streaming instead of Hulu for now.
Jason,
There indeed is a win for consumers, it will just take a bit. People will use other providers for their content (those good fellows in Sweden, etc). Hence, consumers will still get their content while depriving studios of ad revenue. You’d think the owners of Hulu would’ve learned from the music industry. Clearly they’ll be learning the hard way as well.
Goodbye Hulu…
It was fun, but with this single decision you just forced me to delete my account and never visit your site ever again. Thanks for not listening.
Technology is great but scary. Really the only people that get hurt along the way is the crowd which would like to embrace technology but doesn’t have the know-how or time to learn, and the crowd which tries to do things legally. The rest of us will always find ways around the limitations put on us. The thing is, since we have to go through the effort anyway, we may as well make it as convenient and reliable as possible, which happens to often be illegal (it’s amazing how much more reliable and user friendly illegal downloads are).
I currently have my computer hooked up to my tv with an HDMI cable, and while I enjoy most of my TV through Media Center, I watch hulu on it’s website. I’d prefer to watch it through Media Center, but I make due. As far as I know there’s nothing illegal about this yet. So I don’t get hurt, but everyone else who uses a computer running boxee or any other media center application gets inconvenienced. How long before someone writes a plugin which simply launches a browser linking to the same content on Hulu? Problem solved, but the user experience suffers.
Could you do us a favor and tell us why everyone has to suffer, rather than just saying ‘they told me to’? Surely there were discussions, no? Someone had to have had some reasonable argument for making this happen, right? I, and everyone else here, would really love to hear it.
Not sure what the content provider’s problem is with Hulu being accessible from Boxee?! Think it’s a little short-sided to remove a feature that provides a larger viewing base for the content providers. Since it appears that the content providers are concerned with the inability to make $$$ off Boxee, why can’t this option be offered as a fee service? Not that I would be thrilled to “pay” for a service that is offered for free via a “web browser”, but it would follow the same model as Netflix on Boxee. The folks at NBC should watch their Today Show which featured Boxee and Hulu as cable alternatives for this “tough economic climate”!!!! It would be nice to get contact info for Boxee users to voice their complaints to the content providers, instead of grilling the folks at Hulu.
What is wrong with allowing new forms of accessing your content? The Boxee platform is an innovative way to watch your shows on a TV rather than a 15 inch computer monitor. I’m very disturbed by your decision to be bullied on how anyone can access the content you provide.
Is their a loss of income for Hulu or the content providers? The ads are display through out each show and I watch them. Before I had a DVR and I would skip right past standard commercials with my cable access.
So in reality the advertisers are getting their money worth with me watching via Boxee rather than my cable box.
What really strikes me as funny about this is that for someone to be using Boxee, they need to either be relatively tech proficient, know someone who’s tech proficient, or be pretty informed about gadgets/etc. These are precisely the people that know about/use Bittorrent and the like. As a Boxee user, I am disappointed by the content proviers’ shortsightedness.
Record labels are in the process of dying, just like TV content providers will be if they don’t embrace new distribution channels; specifically ones that don’t treat us like criminals.
Understand that this isn’t your choice. Also understand that the “media companies” in question (folks, its FOX and NBC, stop asking) are under heavy pressure. Seems to me you need to think hard about the Hulu model. Clearly they’re not making enough money from the commercials you run to keep them interested, so for now they’re pulling back. If you want Hulu to remain viable you need to fix this. Does it mean more ads? More targeted ads? Both? I don’t know, but you freaking better, and you better do it soon.
I never touched Hulu til I got boxee. Enough said.
Wow. How dumb can you be? Really? I thought this was finally the improvement on the youtube concept… ugh. what a waste and disappointment.
I have to say I am disappointed in this decision by the content providers. Hulu on Boxee was the only way I was going to watch ads. I liked it so much I bought an apple tv this week. I don’t like the idea of having to get up to go to my laptop and pushing buttons to change shows. I may also have to get up since the screen saver comes on. Boxee made this nice UI that works. Boxee is the wave of the future. We just need some other companies to make some content instead now. Since Boxee is a delivery mechanism the shows may do well. Good luck Hulu, I wont be using my browser to get to you.
The content providers were looking rather progressive and intelligent as of late with the various streaming options. And it seemed we consumers were more than happy to get our content that way, ads an all.
It boggles the mind that they’re taking this step backwards. We consumers are fine with ads, but we want CONVENIENCE, and boxee was the ultimate in convenience.
We don’t want 10 competing web sites with 10 competing codecs and 10 competing DRMs. There’s MUCH easier ways for us to get your content (and ad-free at that) than jumping through those hopes.
I hope they reconsider. Boxee is the future. Those that don’t embrace are likely going to increasingly loose that generation as an audience.
You just lost another Hulu viewer. And I actually sat through the ads on Boxee, instead of switching to another tab while the commercial runs as I do in Firefox.
I’m glad you published this decision first, but I can’t figure out the rationale. I mean, Boxee users are watching the ads afterall.
Let’s hope that somebody at Hulu is reading these comments.
I don’t want to be confrontational, but I do not believe you. I don’t think the content providers are balking about Boxee at all. I think this is a decision made by hulu in an effort to drive more site traffic. I also think you see Boxee as a competitive platform.
If I’m wrong, then who are these “content providers” you speak of? Can you name them? I’m not going to just believe your statements at face value and accept that, “this is how it has to be.” You can’t just pass the buck to ‘content provider X’ and expect the users to just roll over. If you can’t deliver names, then I’m just going back to torrents for my content.
It’s not you that is nuts, mostly, it is of course the content providers.
The providers are no doubt concerned about the extra lost revenue from the surrounding web ads that you have on hulu.com, not being displayed in Boxee. Regardless of the fact that there are still in-stream ads.
The kind of people that used Boxee, that enjoyed watching these ad-laced videos on their big screen in the livingroom — does anyone really think they will go back exclusively to browsing the hulu.com website from their desk? No. We all know where they are going to go back to. A bay, of pirates.
It’s really sad that content providers can be so pathetically stupid and short-sighted sometimes.
I find when I watch shows on Cable TV I skip through the commercials with the DVR, especially when they pile 5 minutes of them together. The short breaks when I watch Hulu on Boxee I watch all the way through. Now that there will be no more Hulu on Boxee. There will likely be no more Hulu for me.
The music industry tried this method of forcing its best and most interested customers to play on its terms about a decade ago. “Stick our heads in the sand and pretend if we fight it, the better distribution methods will go away” they thought. Worked well for them too… Music piracy is practically the standard for my generation, and its penetration is even higher for our younger fans who have a lifetime of music consumption ahead of them. Everybody hates the RIAA and its affiliated record labels (and therefore have no qualms about continuing piracy, as long as they believe they won’t face consequences), and nearly all companies in the industry that didn’t embrace digital distribution early on are now shells of their former selves.
Here is why (I assume) this is happening with Hulu: local NBC and FOX affiliates realized people in their territories were skirting their local car dealership and garage door repair advertising spots via Boxee… the affiliates complained to the networks, the networks caved. Sure, the intentions are there… those affiliates pay a good chunk of the bills, right? But the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and times are changing. The record companies are in the midst of their own hell, and unfortunately, it’s not surprising that the same company (NBC Universal) that only played nice with iTunes after a good amount of kicking and screaming is now fighting Boxee as well.
History will repeat itself. EMI / Sony / Warner / RCA all wanted to blame Shawn Fanning and Napster for their demise, when in reality, all he did was shine a big bright light on the fact that the Internet offered a better distribution method than what was already in place. Progress can not be stopped, no matter how many lawsuits are filed or how hard content providers try to ignore it. It’s easier, faster, and a better value to download the songs, movies and TV shows you want. Those CDs we bought at Sam Goody in the 90’s were never worth $18 dollars (or the trip to the mall, to be honest), but it was our only choice at that time. The Internet provided another option, and it was and is up to the content providers to jump on board and help usher this new age in if they want a piece of it. Look, the record companies already lost out.
It is decision time for the TV and movie executives. They can adapt to the fact that it’s becoming an on demand world, or they can go the way of the newspapers and record companies. Hulu is a step forward. Boxee is another. Using Boxee to watch Hulu’s content on my 47 inch flatscreen in infinitely more enjoyable than watching it on my 13 inch laptop. I’ll put up with the Hulu ads because it works and its easy. If NBC and FOX won’t allow me to watch it where and when I want, I’ll either watch less, or I’ll find another way.
The cat is out of the bag. BitTorrent won’t be hard to set up for anybody who had Hulu via Boxee figured out, and just like a taste of Napster convinced us that we didn’t want to step foot in a Sam Goody again, a taste of Boxee has convinced many of us that we aren’t interested in video content unless its delivered on demand and to our big screen. We’ll give your ads our eyeballs if you make it easy. If not, somebody else who doesn’t care about your revenue will figure out a way. The race is on.
– Andrew Stone
P.S. There is an easy fix for all of this… throw three spots in every commercial break on Hulu (instead of the current one spot per break), tell the local affiliates they owe a lesser percentage to the networks based on how the people in their territories adopt this new technology, then leave it to them to make themselves viable through live and / or local programming. The local affiliates can still run The Office, 30 Rock, and American Idol for those people willing to let it be dictated to them when and where they watch, and it’s no skin off the networks back, as their revenue will then come via Hulu instead of the local affiliates. I personally have watched 3x the programming during this especially nasty Chicago winter as I have past, and thus, 3x the advertising. Netflix contributed, but 90% of that programming was streamed through Boxee, and the entire series of “Arrested Development” my girlfriend and I watched over the last month got a lot of ad views for Hulu. We aren’t going back, and we are not alone.
As a new Boxee user on Apple TV, it has taken no more than three weeks for me to near completely phase out all other forms of media delivery – Hulu being the primary source, followed closely by Comedy Central. This is disappointing, clearly, but the bigger disappointment is that the move is circumventing nothing. Many of us Boxee users are creative enough to find another way to get Hulu on our TVs via Playstation, XBox, Wii, personal computers and so on, but Boxee actually provided an enjoyable way to view the content from Hulu’s providers on a large screen in the comfort of our living rooms. It couldn’t be easier and I’m sure that BlackBerry and Fosters in particular are very pleased that I can remember their ads when I have no recollection of any recent ‘broadcast’ ads I’ve seen. Please fight for Boxee and any source that works to deliver media in a convenient, legal, and profitable manner. If I have to buy more Fosters to help make it happen, I will.
Well, hopefully these comments will be read by someone at Hulu.
First, I have to say that I do love the content provided by Hulu. Having been to the site and seen it on Boxee, I fail to see where Boxee diminishes the Hulu brand – or the brands of its content providers – in any way. True, it is placed side-by-side with some competitors, but is it any better than that out in the Wild & Wooly Web? In truth, Boxee adds value by making Hulu (and others) navigable by remote control. I respect the desire to stake out your own property, but Boxee is not threatening that.
What are the objections raised? That content is being served through an aggregator, making the whole experience simpler? That content is cobbled together with competing offerngs, and sites that your providers deem threatening (such as YouTube)? Is the answer then to pull out, leaving only the competitors and those your providers find threatening to serve us?
Let’s think about this, Hulu. I want to see Hulu on Boxee. I don’t know how interested I am in Hulu without Boxee.
Just one vote. :)
I started to watch “TV” again because of Boxee and Hulu. In the past I’ve been too busy to make myself available to sit and watch a show at a specific time.
A PVR was a partial solution but still has some short comings:
1) You have to manage the content
2) You can’t set it for the past to record shows you heard good things about.
An example of this for me was Fringe. I finally decided to give it try last month and Hulu allowed me to do that. I was enjoying what I saw and could see myself being a follower because Hulu/Boxee allowed me to manage my viewing habits of it based on my personal schedule.
I didn’t get fully caught up and I don’t see myself trying to do that now that the Boxee “support” is gone. Hulu on a laptop/desktop is not a great experience and not what the creators had in mind when they created the show.
Best of luck Hulu (Fox and NBC) I’m sure you know what you are doing (Arrested Development). You killed the only resource that would allow Hulu to go from a novelty to a household essential. Good luck making money from ad revenue generated from you cable broadcasts (Do people even watch the ads any more because of PVRs?)
PS: Boxee is the only “girlfriend proofed” solution I’ve seen for a medial solution. The bar was set high by Boxee and will be hard to be reached by other solutions.
Hilarious how these content providers are letting themselves be driven into the grown by greedy cable and satellite companies. Lets hobble what has to be one of the most successful “official” online content endeavors to date.
Their thinking must go like this…
Wow, look how successful this is! People are actually using this to see our shows, watch our ads and make us money. Wait,… you mean to tell me someone has freely developed a platform to make our content more easily available, more user friendly and make us more money… how horrible. Squash them quick!
I honestly think content providers today are actually afraid to be successful… they don’t like how it feels to do something right.
Ha, ok network providers. All I’ll do now is just download your shows ad-free on the internet and stream it to my media center or xbox, instead of watching it, ads and all, with boxee.
Jason, I’ll continue to use Hulu when I’m on my laptop, but I’ll just do the easy ad-free route for watching on my TV. Man, network providers just don’t see the writing on the wall.
This decision makes absolutely no sense. If anything, allowing your users to watch Hulu content on Boxee or other free set-top boxes helps spread and aggregate your content to places other than just computer screens. That equals more eyeballs watching your shows AND your advertisers!
If the cable/satellite companies are up in arms about this, then they need to find a better business model.
I will continue to support and watch Hulu in my home, but I won’t be getting nearly as much use out of it as I did with Boxee.
The “content providers” need to understand you can’t keep jerking the “consumers” around. First I sought to watch NBC content on iTunes, then NBC pulls their content leaving me with no legal option. Shortly later, I move to Hulu and start watching their content, and again they pull the plug.
OK. I get it. I can take a hint. You don’t want me as a customer/consumer/watcher. Fair enough – that’s your choice. Good luck with your business.
It’s amazing that amongst all of the posts so far, no one has reduced the problem to its simplest terms–money. When boxee coughs up more dough to license the rights to hulu content, it will magically reappear. Just a big poker game. Who’s gonna blink first. -s
Great response on email to the Hulu “customer service” address.
Just make sure you pass this on to your content providers (from now on referenced as morons).
I do not pay for cable tv. I use a PC attached to my computer to watch Hulu via Boxee. I gladly sit through the ads on Hulu because I know it pays for the convenience.
Now that morons have decided to cut off Boxee – I will just move over to Bittorrent and get all of the shows I used to watch on Hulu for free, with no ads, and nobody in the value chain getting money.
Sad that the morons can’t see the forest thru the trees. Especially in the “new economy” where people are trying to do more with less.
I started to watch “TV” again because of Boxee and Hulu. In the past I’ve been too busy to make myself available to sit and watch a show at a specific time.
A PVR was a partial solution but still has some short comings:
1) You have to manage the content
2) You can’t set it for the past to record shows you heard good things about.
An example of this for me was Fringe. I finally decided to give it try last month and Hulu allowed me to do that. I was enjoying what I saw and could see myself being a follower because Hulu/Boxee allowed me to manage my viewing habits of it based on my personal schedule.
I didn’t get fully caught up and I don’t see myself trying to do that now that the Boxee “support” is gone. Hulu on a laptop/desktop is not a great experience and not what the creators had in mind when they created the show.
Best of luck Hulu (Fox and NBC) I’m sure you know what you are doing (Arrested Development). You killed the only resource that would allow Hulu to go from a novelty to a household essential. Good luck making money from ad revenue generated from you cable broadcasts (Do people even watch the ads any more because of PVRs?)
PS: Boxee is the only “girlfriend proofed” solution I’ve seen for a medial solution. The bar was set high by Boxee and will be hard to be reached by other solutions.
I blame Reagan.
I would like the record to show I will now stop watching the programs on Hulu (commercials and all) and just go back to skipping them on my AT&T U-verse DVR.
I never consumed Hulu from my PC. so iI guess that’s the end of that. All in the interest of keeping the content providers happy….
Is it just me or is this happening just a few weeks after Boxee and ABC came to an agreement about streaming ABC programs? Since Hulu decided not to include ABC in their mix, it would seem that the only logical (if any) reason why Hulu would pull out of Boxee is from whining about competition. The last thing they want is equal access for all content – no they want only access to THEIR content. Being grouped with competitors like ABC, Netflix, et al, seems to be upsetting their ego.
I agree with all the other comments here about Boxee being the future. I predict we will come to see a reversal here with Hulu once Boxee hardware is released, and its a hit on the scale of TIVO, setting a new industry standard…
As so many have already said, this move will only push people toward the same content from illegal sources with no ones advertisements. Getting pirated TV and movie content on the large screen used to be a little involved but now several tools make it just barely not quite as simple as using Hulu on Boxee.
Boxee has made it easier than anyone has before to get this content (with ads!) on your TV pushing interest nearer to the tipping point. This move by Hulu creates a giant space for someone to release the tool that makes getting pirated, ad free content onto your TV as easy as Hulu on Boxee. When this happens why would anyone go back to the Hulu model even if content providers change their minds after the fact?
This is so much the wrong time to pull in demand, legal, ad supported content. There’s a lot of interest in this space and it’s only growing. Why not find a way to take full advantage of a captive audience?
Hulu, thanks for the good times and best of luck getting this worked out!
You do realize that I can kill Boxee and stream all of this content to my TV via a web browser. Are people really this clueless of how technology works? Besides Boxee only promoted that content making it more valuable not less valuable. I do hope this gets resolved quickly!
I don’t usually respond to these types of things, but I have to say that I was moved enough to actually want to comment. As everyone else has mentioned, this is extremely disappointing.
I am also confused on why there isn’t a better explanation on why Hulu made this decision. It seems a little disingenuous to say that Hulu’s content providers asked them to do it. The content providers own Hulu, so they are saying that they asked themselves to pull the content. It would be nice to get a real answer on why this was done and what their plan is moving forward.
Everyone using Boxee is trying to do the right thing but content providers are encouraging people to look at less than ideal avenues to get this content (avenues which clearly won’t be putting money in Hulu/NBC’s pockets).
Please rethink this.
So sad. I really enjoyed Hulu, too. I’ll probably stop by from time to time, but I can’t actively push Hulu anymore. I don’t care how I see the content I’m looking for, but I won’t start there anymore. I’m not tied to your brand, and I’ll go where I can get the broadest selection. Please pass on my sincere disappointment to your upstream providers.
Are you kidding me? Why not shut down Hulu completely then? As far as I’m concerned Hulu is now dead to me. How do I delete my account?
ezTV FTW
You can add my name to the list of those who will not be viewing Hulu. This move makes absolutely no sense and I believe, like everyone else that it is a huge mistake that will be regretted but only after it is too late.
BYE BYE HULU!
How unfortunate. I haven’t subscribed to cable in almost a decade and have no plans of changing that. Boxee however turned me on to countless shows I would have otherwise never seen or watched. I have even purchased the shows seasons on DVD and itunes as a result. I know it is not Hulu’s fault directly but without Boxee support this is one user who will not be frequenting Hulu any longer.
This seems like a thoughtful note though I’m guessing it’s a bit misleading – clearly you are going to launch a product similar to Boxee and are just somewhat ruthlessly paving the way for its success. That’s OK but if true the apologetic tone is a little nauseating here.
If this is not a competitor killer move you should at least provide the content folks’ rationale here – do the content providers seem to think their ads are circumvented by Boxee users or do they just see this as an overall content control issue?
BIG MEDIA CONTENT PROVIDERS – I’m very disappointed to hear that big media is taking a step backwards. The one time I thought that large media conglomerates had a clue to what users really wanted. Besides the ads are still shown on Boxee.
Is that it? Really? Roll over and play dead?
I have a better idea: Name names. WHO are the content providers threatening to yank their content from HULU just because an incredibly useful, well-coded piece of software has appeared which makes it EASIER and BETTER to enjoy their product and get fanatical about it.
I’m talking companies, executives, lawyers – who is doing this? What are their phone numbers?
You don’t have to post it in a blog – just leak it to a few of your favorite Tech journalists. These nidjuts quite obviously need to be publicly humiliated before they will do the right thing. You can help make that happen.
Well, what we all want is for the content providers to be motivated to reconsider their stance.
Therefore, it’s best if everyone stop using Hulu in any form for the time being. If there’s a significant enough drop in usage, the providers will have to ask themselves whether it’s worth it to them to lose that much business just so they can have things exactly the way they prefer them.
But if people simply adjust and use Hulu in this newly restricted form, nothing will change and we’ll never get Hulu back on Boxee.
I feel I should add my voice to the masses: I agree that this is a bad move, but I do realize that there was little Hulu could do to stop it. The fault lies on the providers, and I can only hope that soon they’ll realize their mistake. Unfortunately, history seems to suggest that they will be too stubborn to open their eyes anytime in the near future. In any case, I very rarely, if ever, visited the Hulu site; whenever I used it, I went through Boxee. In fact, Hulu integration was one of the biggest reasons I was interested in the Boxee alpha at all. I can’t see myself continuing to use Hulu at all without Boxee. Best of luck in your efforts to get this problem fixed.
What percentage of the overall hulu viewership are boxee users? i’m sure hulu won’t miss all 82 of them considering how much outrage is posted in the above 82– messages.
seriously man … beggars can’t be choosers. take what they give and be thankful for it.
The whole problem is that we Boxee users are watching on our TVs and not on dinky computer screens.
We would really like contacts for the content partners so we can make our case. I worry that boycotting Hulu will only slow the momentum that new media is gaining, but the content partners need to be educated.
If when they shut down Hulu on my Boxee, I will lose all TV.
I believe Rob (2 above), has hit the nail on the head.
Hulu has its hands tied on this. It is the content providers worrying about the money from cable/satellite carriage.
The many recent articles touting Boxee/AppleTV as cable/satellite killers is what has stung the behemoths into striking. However, like the music industry, it is the desperate parry of a dying business model.
Yeah, Hulu has ads…but not very many compared to regular television. The networks have set it up that way, apparently to be competitive online. But they’re scared that if people start actually watching online TV on their TVs, then they’ll be in a position where they have to either increase Hulu’s ad quota (potentially driving off viewers) or lose tons of money. And naturally people with a sizable investment in the Old World Order would be trepidatious about the New.
Mind you, I don’t agree with the decision. But right now it almost seems like the networks see Hulu as less of a business strategy and more of a stop-gap against piracy. (Because if it’s not on Hulu, as most posters here note, those of us who watch stuff online can and will pirate it.) Fortunately for them, though, they can cut off Boxee before it really catches on, and retain those viewers who just want to veg out on the couch instead of going through the trouble of torrenting.
Of course it will fail long-term. But by that time they can change their strategy.
Although I do respect submitting to the request of the content owners, and I respect their right to make such a request, it’s still sad. I really liked how easy Boxee made it to access all of the great show from FOX, NBC Universal, MGM, Sony Pictures Television, Warner Bros and more. And generate add revenue for those great content owners.
I hope the content owners will come to their senses and allow the beautiful relationship between Boxee and Hulu to flourish once again.
What’s Hulu? I’ve forgotten.
All this “cracking down” does is make content creators realize they don’t need big television networks or cable operators anymore. The producers of Lost and other shows could very well just skip that whole nonsense and go direct to people via the internet and sell their own ads. There is no lack of ad platforms (with better targeting and trackability than anything the networks offer) to handle that end.
My point is, don’t be like the RIAA, see the writing on the wall and be proactive, not punish your end consumers. You can’t pick up your ball and go home, because people are just going to play a different game that doesn’t require your old tired balls.
This is a shame. The content providers need to work with Boxee, not against them (and the other way around).
Tongue,
While reading this post, I couldn’t stop thinking practically verbatim what you wrote. Needless to say I completely agree with your comments.
It’s just a shame that a company such as HULU who has a bigger, stronger voice than an average viewer stood by and rolled over.
Sadly, HULU and their partners have lost another viewer.
I´m not going to tell you you´re nuts, as I have no trouble believing your motivations.
What I would like to say to the content providers though is this:
WAKE THE FRECK UP!
Get out of your scared old fashioned conservative mindset! People are getting fed up with the media industry as it is. Wondering why media is pirated? It´s because you´re afraid of change and hinder progress and wish to keep everything as it was, because that´s the way (you think) is the only way that´ll work for you. You´re not seeing possibilities that have been here forever. If innovation got it´s way we would have amazing experiences way beyond what´s possible now.
Once again: WAKE UP
Hulu and Boxee are like chocolate a peanut butter. Its a sad day indeed.
Please work something out with boxee and your content partners, none of us want to see this go.
As a longtime user of both hulu and boxee I’d say the community would gladly see hulu videos with additional ads on boxee.