“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
Find Hulu on Facebook
Follow Hulu on Twitter
As a previous commenter noted, this is a tragic announcement, and as a result, I will not be visiting the Hulu site, nor contributing to revenue for your content providers as a result of this action. I have also [essentially] canceled my cable subscription due to the availability of television shows via Boxee, and will now have to find another means of getting access to these shows. Sadly, this move will not only cost your content providers a viewer, but also Hulu a visitor.
This is so dumb! I mean, no one has to worry about “illegitimate” (and I hesitate to say that) bittorrent feeds of their shows ever going down, so people might as well just stick with file-sharing (not piracy, mind you, which is defined as people who sail ships whilst raping and pillaging) because that way they never have to worry about the content going out. It will always be there and always work, in this case, with an excellent program like boxee.
Here’s something the studios should learn: The Law of Unintended Consequences. They are literally going to increase file sharing with this move.
In this economy, why do I want to pay $100/month for cable?? I was hoping to be able to install Boxee on my Apple TV and watch Hulu. I was actually going to do it this weekend.
Heroes, 24, Nip/Tuck, Family Guy, etc., etc. 90% of the shows I watch are on Hulu. The problem now is that I don’t want to watch them on my laptop and don’t want to be bothered with connecting my laptop to my TV all the time.
The short-sightedness of old media companies never ceases to amaze me.
I’d like to support Hulu, but I only use it through my Apple TV on Boxee. I don’t sit in front of a computer to watch shows/movies, so Hulu becomes irrelevant to me. Boxee is a good solution for the user, and it was a way that brought Hulu to my family.
In this economy, I’d think your content sponsors/providers would want visibility through all channels.
Jason, Please know that I will not be viewing content from any of your providers through any web service including Hulu that provide revenue for them until this issue is resolved. We were finally at a place where these companies made it convenient to view their content and also make them money. Thank your for all the work that you have done on Hulu it is an excellent service down to almost every detail. Please make sure this message is passed on to your providers with the utmost urgency.
Who can we contact to complain? We pay the bills for these content providers.
You sir are a liar and you should be ashamed of yourself. “Our content providers requested..” You work for the NBC & Fox. You are the content provider. I realize you likely did not make this decision yourself but this damage control plain and simple. Putting the blame elsewhere, while you lack the integrity to tell the truth says all I need to know about Hulu.
While your future looked promising, it turned out to be nothing but a lie. Good bye Hulu, Hello Pirate Bay.
You can add me to the list of those who won’t be using Hulu again until you reverse this crazy decision. I guess instead of actually watching ads on Hulu, I’ll be recording the same content off the air onto my Tivo and skipping through any ads that appear during the recording.
Penny wise and ton foolish.
I have enjoyed watching Hulu on Boxee, and will miss the content. I guess I’ll just have to watch more shows from ABC.com, CBS.com and other Boxee content providers.
aww man thats not cool i always use boxee to watch hulu, i dont use the web to use hulu
The most maddening part is that, as has been pointed out repeatedly, there is no reasonable argument for disallowing alternative UIs for Hulu content. Content providers will get fewer views, Boxee owners will be encouraged to now-easier piracy means, and Hulu will lose traffic. Is this really the position of *all* of your content providers? Can you give any indication of what their actual argument against Boxee is?
Another clear example that “content providers” just don’t get it. I’m impressed by the tone of most comments here and look forward to contributing a collective voice in expressing the frustration I feel about this situation. And I agree, “doing hard things” is not easy. And it will not be easy for me to stop using Hulu’s service but until this is fixed, the only thing I can do is say goodbye.
Guess it’s back to bittorrent for me.
shame… darn shame.
Others have asked this in the comments, but is there a specific reason that the content providers don’t want Boxee users to access your content? The ads and commercials are still being shown, correct? It seems like Boxee only serves to increase the possible viewing audience for the ads.
I’ve deleted my account, and until today I hadn’t even tried Boxee; Hulu has always had problems, but this is such a bone-headed move that I can’t just stand by and do nothing. I agree with the sentiments of most of the other comments.
Your nuts Hulu. Whats the difference between me watching your content through Firefox or Boxee. I still see the ads.
*sigh*
Content providers:
I have been off cable for over two years and haven’t watched any TV advertising in that time. Instead, I’ve been watching internet video in the form of podcasts, etc.
When Boxee debuted for the AppleTV, I installed it and immediately discovered Hulu. Guess what? I started watching your commercials again. Boxee + Hulu made it just too convenient, plus I preferred the single “themed” commercials that ran with every show, as opposed to the multiple commercial interruptions you get with regular TV.
Now I find out that you (the content providers) have forced Hulu to withdraw from Boxee? Well, I’m not going to watch Hulu on my laptop’s screen. If I can’t watch it thru Boxee on my AppleTV, I’m just going back to my old podcasts and new-media shows.
Sorry content providers, but you just lost two pairs of eyes (my wife loved Hulu on Boxee too) … Wake up.
Jake Eddington:
It’s obvious: you can’t click the video and see the website they’re promoting. Hulu is worthwhile to them because, unlike with a tv ad, you can see more than just the 15 or 30 seconds by clicking the picture.
I’m thinking if there were a way to say “provide boxee with ONLY those ‘watch a 2-3 minute video then watch no ads’ deals”, then that might work better.
At least on YouTube you can specify if you want a video to show on TV and Mobile devices or not.
That’s fine….tell the content providers not to worry about it. Instead of using Hulu, we’ll all just go back to downloading free torrents of their shows. Sure, Hulu and boxee were convenient, but I’m OK with going back to HD versions of everything on TV, for free, with no commercials, within an hour after the show airs!
This is very disappointing, but it’s good to know that there are reasonable people at Hulu who have the ear of content providers. Hopefully they’ll listen to you eventually and stop making boneheaded decisions like this. What do you think the odds are they found out about Boxee/Hulu because one of their employees or employees’ relatives thought it was great and showed them? Their (content, not Hulu) attitude towards customers is quite frustrating.
I am also extremely disspointed in this move. Why don’t they make it easier to get their content out? It has to be cheaper than broadcasting, and all they have to do is allow it. I understand this was not exclusively covered in your agreements, but it is a serious bummer to those of us who would like a more remote/living room friendly interface or front end to hulu. Good luck to you all, please let us know how we can make our voices heard.
Sucks. Online video was at a point where the legal method–ads and all–was better than pirating, but now I’ll be back to pirating, and I’m sure many others will too.
So apparently your content providers don’t want MORE people watching their content? This is why I don’t have a television. Hollywood is completely backwards and asinine.
Hulu’s content providers suck.
The content providers would rather loose consumers and go out of business when their advertisers discover they’re tools that throw away revenue. The sooner the better.
Great business plan, content providers. Good luck with that. Pissing off customers has worked so well for the CD distribution industry, hasn’t it?
I guess that means I won’t be watching Hulu. Too bad for you. But I am sticking with my Boxee because it makes my life easy. Hulu’s content providers are the losers. And Hulu.
I guess it’s back to torrents. Bleh. Pain in the ass to get the a torrent RSS thing working that doesn’t require user intervention — Hulu was much easier.
Tell your content providers they are idiots for pulling this kind of move.
Signed,
The Internet
The only way to get them to see boxee as something positive is to make them see it as a tool against piracy.
I recommend everyone get peer guardian [http://phoenixlabs.org/pg2/] or moblock [http://moblock.berlios.de/]. they both allow you to download without worrying about content provider watchdogs. if everyone maxed out their bandwidth, I’m sure hulu would have a better case to present. Also their are plenty of public servers that you can use for hopping while downloading.
Is it possible to get a list of the content providers that requested the change?
Sid
Dear advertisers,
We watched your ads, happily. We were no different than any other users. You are removing a group of tech-savvy users from your viewing… we don’t watch traditional television (and its ads) and Hulu was simply a way to easily watch shows, legally, and still put money in your pockets. Instead, we will go back to downloading shows for free. We will not watch your ads, we will not use Hulu. You are simply losing an affluent audience.
Any chance you would be willing to share your usage stats? I can only assume there will be a marked decline come Friday. At the very least, I hope you’ll share that data with your content providers, so they can see first hand the effects of their decision.
In other news, thanks for a great web site and service. You’ve all done an amazing job, and I hope to see Hulu back in my living room sometime soon.
That is too bad. I guess it’s the end of a great relationship. And guess I’ll need to resort to less reputable sources for my content. Shame because I just put Boxee on my Apple TV last week. At least with Boxee I’ll be able to watch my “covertly acquired” content. I will not be content to watch my shows on my laptop.
Wow.
That sucks.
-Don
I think Steve M. stated it perfectly way above me: “I had stopped using Hulu until I started using boxee.”
Too bad. Boxee was the main reason I used Hulu because all my media was available in our easy to use app. Unfortunately, your content providers wishes have cost you yet another user and them a fan of their content.
Frankly, I’m at a loss to explain how this benefits the so-called Content Providers. Maybe someone could step me through that, eh? Not good for viewers, not good for Hulu, so you have to think that restricting their income flow is somehow beneficial to them.
Adblock Plus / Enable for Hulu.com
Seriously, it was nice while it lasted. Don’t get me wrong, Hulu rocks. But on this, like almost everything else, media content providers have failed once more. So I’d rather wait an extra 15 seconds as a boycott instead of doing nothing at all.
Whatever. I’m still not signing up for cable, or whatever “approved” (i.e., kickback paying) set-top box your content owners think they can strongarm me into.
Or so I think. Of course, in the end I’ll probably end up with an internet provider who feels they need to cut a deal to allow my set top box to get the “best” content, a la the way most providers already pay ESPN so their subscribers can get ESPN3600–without either offering a way to opt out of paying the ESPN tax, OR even a way for their subscribers to sign up for, and pay for, ESPN360 individually.
Oh well. Books are better.
“You’re nuts!”
I thought Hulu would successfully bridge the cable/internet gap, but now I guess not. I don’t care who Hulu claims is at fault here, I won’t be using Hulu again (on any platform) unless they reverse their decision.
I cannot believe this! The Hulu/Boxee marriage had the momentum to change the medium entertainment was brought to the living room on. I cannot believe that short-sighted content providers cannot accept change and still shrink in fear. This is so disappointing….so disappointing. Shame on you Hulu!
So, the real question is: How do we voice our objection to the content providers without affecting the fine folks at Hulu?
These “content providers” are inching dangerously close to the level of disdain experienced by the MPAA and RIAA. The amount of short-sightedness just boggles my mind.
Wow — i thought I was having a bad day… Well, this week has seen another fairly well known site take back a significant change in terms and service — I can only hope your content provider(s) take heed and decide to reverse course. Quickly.
Goodbye Hulu, I hardly new you.
Way to show backbone and stand up to these “content providers”, Hulu. I just deleted my account and suggest others do so as well. It’s the functional equivalent of swatting a bad dog on the nose for peeing the carpet. Again.
What exactly was their reason for this? Do they actually understand that MORE people were seeing their content with ads, in context, than not? How did you frame the benefit of Boxee to them?
I love Hulu. Have used it for awhile now … but when I found Boxee, I thought my dreams had been answered. I can do without HUlu, though, but not without Boxee.
I hope you stood up for us. You may think content providers are the most important part of the equation here, but I think you’re missing one even more important part – the users. Without us, there’s no need for Hulu whatsoever.
Sorry. I liked Hulu a lot, but I’m not going to use your web interface. I hope you point out these comments to whichever content providers were too blind to realize what a good thing they had here.
This development is very disappointing. Hulu is a great service, and Boxee is a terrific way to watch Hulu content on our television set as a family. We were just starting to reacquaint ourselves with some older sitcoms and sharing them with our children. All of us were pleased with the content, and more than happy to watch the advertisements that accompany this content. Unfortunately, this will end on Friday. Please work with your content providers to work this out.
Seriously, when are so-called “content providers” going to understand that they cannot continue with the current model? And WHY alienate so many people? I know HULU is more the bearer of bad news vs the actual bad guys (shows who the real cowards are), but I just do not understand the reasoning here. I’d rather not watch anything than be forced into a one way option.
I echo all the sentiments from the comments here- what a shame. At the risk of missing something obvious and sounding naive though, what exactly is the content providers’ objection for having multiple methods by which viewers consume Hulu content? We still get exposed to all the embedded commercials- Boxee has done you guys a favor. Is it pure fear of not controlling the entire distribution of how the content reaches eyeballs? Do they have the same objection to RSS – because it’s a analogue situation and clearly that’s been a good thing for content providers allowing people to consume content on their terms and read stuff they wouldn’t have otherwise.
Boxee viewers are newfound eyeballs (ie. people watching on Boxee aren’t now going to be driven to the Hulu site, they’ll be driven to bittorrent instead). It’s clear from your post this decision was out of your hands Jason. Let us know how we can give you ammo to reason with these morons and get them to embrace the remix culture that is the reality of the Internet now.
Sean
No doubt this is only the first step in a slide towards isolating the content in order to protect the content of a small handful of providers.
Boxee is only one of the many applications that take advantage of the content provided through Hulu and other video resources.
I had hoped that Hulu would have the foresight to push back against the providers who are acting like frightened children in the face of change. They are still receiving the ad revenue and no doubt there is some way for Hulu to track the metrics of access to the video and advertising they provide, so in all the move makes very little sense.
In the end I think that this boils down to self preservation in the face of a tumultuous economy. Hulu hopes to be a survivor throughout this time and is willing to make compromises to do it.
I don’t support these compromises and see it as a slippery path leading to an easily strongarmed entertainment industry that leaves the audience wishing for better content, better delivery sources and the ability to tailor it to their needs, not a studio or providers.
So then when is the Launch date for NBC’s new $30 a month alternative to Boxee?
Looks like it’s back to torrenting and pirating for most people… At least I don’t have to watch that Edge Shave Gel commercial again.
Am I not seeing the big picture here, or is this actually a step backwards to retake control of financial difficulties for ‘content providers’.
As a family we have chosen to no have Comcast or DirecTV in favor of digital distro. Lots of purchases from iTunes and also watching TV on Hulu through Boxee on our Apple TV’s. I do not blame Hulu for this change today, I know it was forced by the content owners. This is very much a bummer for people like me. I am not willing to pirate TV shows or movies from bit torrents because I do not think it is good to do that as the studios and actors, etc need to get paid. I have no problem paying iTunes money or watching a few ads on Hulu to support what I am enjoying. But when the content owners make it this hard to enjoy things like Hulu through boxee, it makes me wonder if they really want us to do things the legal way? Well I will just sit here and play a board game with my wife instead of watching TV I guess since I can’t see Hulu. :( Well I hope Hulu can get rights to get these things working again. I will not ever be going back to sat. or cable TV. More then one way to skin a cat.
Uh huh. Figures.
Why do you think people “pirate” TV & Movies?
Jeeze… talk about killing the goose who lays golden eggs. The great user experience offered by boxee + hulu more than justified sitting through the ads. In fact, I barely noticed them. Now why bother? I’ll feel no remorse as I grudgingly wade into the world of bit torrent.
You leave me with no choice – back to TPB
Sad to see this… I’m on the bandwagon of no more boxee then no more hulu. I just deleted my hulu account.
Bye Hulu.
i can honestly say that watching Hulu on Boxee is the *only* way I have been seeing commercials lately. we canceled cable and bought a Mac Mini mainly because of the content available on Hulu.
It is still going to be there but it is now a LOT less convenient to get to it.
I’m still going to get the shows… it just won’t be through Hulu.
“Content providers can kiss my ass.” – me
I guess content providers don’t care about piracy then. Hulu is the ultimate way to combat video piracy of all kinds and I was really starting to be able to get my (missed) tv fix off of Hulu with Boxee. You see, I am unable to watch Lost, Lie to Me, and Fringe (among others) and would go to watch these shows on Hulu the night after. Now I guess I will return to downloading (which I can get about 15 minutes after the shows air) or recording it myself. Unfortunately I guess I’ll have to return to piracy instead. Not really a big problem for me but a HUGE problem for the networks. Think before you shit all over your content. If I were in any way connected to the idiots in charge of these companies, I would remove my content immediately.
Well, I guess that means no more Hulu for me. Shame. It was really convenient to find a movie to watch on Hulu instead of looking for the DVD somewhere. I guess it is time to start ripping my DVD collection then!
Really is a loss for the content providers though.. seeing as ABC still streams to Boxee. The Boxee-type market is starting to explode, and hulu was in a prime position.
This is terrible news. Boxee was the biggest reason I starting consuming things through hulu. A media PC running boxee means I can hook Hulu, an excellent service (ads and all) up to my TV and enjoy content with my entire family. Sitting around a laptop with a toddler and a wife just doesn’t scale. I am seriously disappointed, and as such, will not be using the Hulu service courtesy of this move by the content providers. I’m sorry you guys had to make this decision.
Who specifically are these “content providers”? I’d like to have a word with them.
I was using hulu more with boxee on my TV, now you tell me I have to go back to my 20″ computer screen ? hmmm…
We all lose in this situation.
Boxee will lose users because Hulu was the best part about Boxee.
Hulu will lose users because it won’t be as convenient for people and they’re gonna be mad about this move.
Content providers will lose ad clicks because people won’t watch Hulu as much. They will also lose because even though they make most of their money through cable TV subscriptions and Boxee + Hulu on TV sets may have been a scary thought for them, people will rebel anyway and find a much less legal way to get to their content anyway…
And all because some CEO somewhere is short-sighted and cannot see any farther than the total line on this quarter’s revenue statement.
Way to go… way to go…
Its back to torrents for me. It was easier to watch the ads with Hulu in Boxee. Now I will just go get it illegally instead and no one will get paid. Stupid.
It’s funny… I had TiVo before I pulled the plug on cable in favor of appletv/boxee (and a whole lot of hulu on boxee). Because of TiVo, I’d skipped over ads for years and years. Ad now recently, with hulu/boxee/appletv I was watching ads again — and not minding it. The fact that there’s just one ad during a commercial break is what I love. How can content providers object to users who willingly sit through ads? Really baffling.
This is really disappointing. I guess I’ll just go back to downloading the shows I want via torrent. At least that way there are no commercials, any and all content is available, and playback isn’t limited to opening my web browser. Don’t your content providers realize this?
Too bad. Hulu will lose a lot of viewership with this.
Back to piracy again then. Good thing TPB seem to be winning :)
I hope that in the future the content providers will agree to allow boxee to use hulu again… without boxee, I won’t be visiting hulu, it’s just that easy :(
thanks for the entertainment, you’ve got a great product, but boxee was the real key to making it usable on a daily basis with my simple remote control.
There is a difference between doing hard things and doing foolish things. Caving on this is foolish. You had a system that accomplished distributing content to users as they wanted it while maintaining the advertising that the content producers and you gain revenue from. It was delivered in the way your audience wanted. Now to get the content as they desire people will go outside the system and as the last ten years have proven there is no DRM on earth that lasts. This echoes the problems the music industry had in realizing that digital music was the future and they’ve wasted millions of dollars trying to fight all the piracy they caused by not providing an easy mechanism to get digital music to begin with. Learn from Amazon and Apple, provide the content people want in the ways they want them. Now I’m sure more people will use the different ways there are out there to pull content from your site without the commercials, or they will utilize any of the number of DVR hardware and software packages out there that allow them to skip commercials.
I only started using Hulu when it became available through Boxee. This is a remarkably unfortunate move on the part of the content providers. There is no downside whatsoever for content providers. The only end result is that now fewer people will be watching their paid advertising through Hulu streams. So what is my alternative as I am now tied to my Apple TV and have canceled my cable service? I guess I could try and watch everything I want at the time broadcast. However with a 3 year old that is not realistic. I guess I will just resort to downloading HD bittorrents of this same content. And guess what, it will be sans commercials. I don’t see how I can lose in this equation, but I can certainly see a downside for Hulu’s content providers.
By the way, exactly which providers complained? And what exactly were their complaints? It might be nice to know…
“Doing Hard Things” my foot, more like folding to pressure of those too oblique and narrow minded to embrace new technologies.
Losing 100,000 sets of eyes a week on the ads in your content hardly seems like a prudent choice.
Something tells me that the advertisers aren’t going to like this. How are you going to decide who to fold to?
Yeah you’re nuts this is the future of TV and for glint you were on the cutting edge! They know you’re on to something and they threaten to pull your content unless you stop Boxee! That is just sad!
I guess its back to bittorrent…
Looks like I’ll have to resort to alternative methods.
The one complaint I had with using Hulu was you had to use a keyboard and mouse to get the content. Boxee solved this problem, so I could use it on my media center tv, and I didn’t have to have the extra clutter weighing me down. Too bad. I can’t say Hulu is useless to me, but it sure is much less useful. It seems like a big shoot yourself in the foot situation. Here’s hoping you reconsider.
Well, that’s fracking stupid. Once again, the ‘content providers’ cut off their noses to spite their audience. Stupid stupid stupid.
It’s been 3 years since I last watched a TV show on TV. We shut of our cable, and just downloaded everything through torrent, then steamed it to our TV- again, this is for the last 3 years. If the show didn’t get posted on PB, we didn’t watch it. Now, a way comes up that is more convenient, and gives ad revenue to the makers of the show, so my wife and I begin watching things through hulu/boxee. Congratulations for reinforcing the original premise that TV is dead, and the Internets underbelly is where real content is distributed now.
You are not nuts, but your content providers are proving once again what absolute dinosaurs they are. Like the above commenters I am curious what their objections are? Regardless, the fact that this blog post has far more comments than even the Superbowl ad post should say *something* about the number of Boxee using Hulu watchers.
I’m really sad about this because I only used Boxee for Hulu, and I hate to stop using a nice piece of software that really enhanced my Hulu viewing. I hope this can get worked out soon.
rawr. Not cool content providers, not cool. I will be going back to the pirate bay for my content. Hope that was your goal. Yes, I realize that the situation for content providers was probably not the coolest either but, that is not a good enough reason for me. Thanks for trying hulu and boxee. Cheers.
Ignorance must be bliss for the content providers of Hulu.
I clearly speak for many of those that have already spoken when i say that I only viewed Hulu content on my TV via Boxee and i don’t plan on using the interwebs on mine or any computer to view Hulu now that it is gone from Boxee. I hope your gold plated toilet seats are cold when you sit down on them.
“…we finally really did it. YOU MANIACS! YOU BLEW IT UP! OH, DAMN YOU! GODDAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!”
Hulu seemed to moving in all the right directions until this decision. I urge all the parties involved to come together and make some kind of formal agreement rather than a “unspoken” one as noted above so that everyone(Both Boxee users as well as the content providers) can sleep at night. This decision will do nothing but push consumers back to their old, and often illegal, habits. Hulu has now effectively cut off nothing more than another source of output as Boxee simply replicated the hulu experience (commercials and all) with a media center interface. While there is no immediate win for the users, there is no win for Hulu or Boxee either.
This is bad, bad, too bad.
I am just going to echo everyone else here, but this is a really bad decision by corporate suits who really don’t get it. I was really feeling good about not downloading content illegally and sitting through the ads because the experience of using boxee and hulu was so good. Not anymore. They will now lose another viewer until this is resolved. Hulu is awesome, but its goodbye hopefully for only a little while.
I concur that this is ridiculous. No blame goes to Hulu who I’m sure has to capitulate to the content providers. But, seriously, WTH?
This decision makes me 100% less likely to use Hulu, and thus view the ad content for the content providers.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
I wonder if it really was the CONTENT providers or the DISTRIBUTION partners that asked for this. It makes no sense – the content people shouldn’t care- they just want people to watch (more) ads. Now the DISTRIBUTION partners — they are probably really pissed that people are consuming hulu via boxee and not their own ‘channels’ that, I presume, is the real story behind all this. Watch hulu via boxee and you are not consuming the DISTRIBUTION partners additional adds.
It’s not you guys who are nuts, it’s the damn networks. When are they going to wake up?
This is really unfortunate. I don’t blame Hulu, I blame the content providers who fail to recognize my eyes were on their product and their advertisements. I was a media “win.”
Now, I’m a loss, because they no longer get my eyes.
It’s also a step backwards as we continue to delay the inevitable. Content will be streamed from computer-like devices to TV sets. Cable will not be necessary. Who gets the money is still up in the air, but for a second, it was Hulu.
well, I won’t be visiting hulu.com again, that’s for sure. i know this is a stupid position to take but i can’t support a site that doesn’t even TRY to keep a significant portion of its viewers happy. forgive me if i’m wrong, but i’m sure you spent more time writing this post than you did trying to keep your content provider’s opinion(s) of boxee up. thepiratebay.org for me from now on. I *will* obtain my television over the internet, hulu, and if I can’t do it from my television in one step (appleTV+boxee+hulu) then I’ll do it in three (pirate bay, ffmpeg, apple TV)
Isn’t Boxee GPL? If so, what’s to stop a fork re-enabling the feature?
So I hope you will be tracking the ad revenue that they will have lost due to this move. I had cut my cable service and had been quite happy with watching hulu on my tv through appleTV and Boxee. With hulu gone I’m not going to start up cable again, but instead try out other services like Netflix or Joost. This is just money lost for both Hulu and your content providers. I had had my tv playing Hulu exclusively, was watching it legitimately and with an advertising revenue stream attached.
Did your providers not realize that they would be angering their most devoted fans who were probably at offices around the world talking up what a great innovation this was and how they should follow suit and start using Hulu exclusively instead of stealing their media which is the norm?
I guess it’s back to videogames.
A sad day indeed for Boxee users. Hulu was my favorite part of the Boxee experience.
Unfortunately, media companies can tell the ship is sinking yet don’t really understand why, so they make rash decisions like this to plug what they see as the ‘leaks on the boat’.
Hulu is a great service, but it’s worthless to me on a computer. Looking forward to the day when NBC and Fox retract this ridiculousness with their collective tails between their legs.
This is extremely disappointing, not so much for me, but my 9 y.o. daughter is going to be quite upset. I hope you can convince your owners to think of it as capturing a lost revenue stream, rather than cannibalizing existing income.
It’s over hulu. You suck.
What is the content providers objective?????
I thought getting their content and advertisements out to those that use it. This just shows you how the music, tv and movie industry have no business sense and do care about providing a products users want.
Boxee has just been another fantastic method of distributing their content… and with aTV+ boxee, it distributed this to more than just desktop users.
Hulu – What logic could they possibly have behind this?
They ‘decided’ this is unacceptable. With the inconsistency of this service, you will lose customers, I was a big fan and now no longer will browse hulu without boxee…
s
Where’ the Balls Hulu?!? – Someone needs to steer these big dumb sheep of content providers.
I was this close || to buying an AppleTV on which I would have loaded Boxee and watched content via Hulu – I guess this move just saved me a couple hundred bucks… and got me a little more pissed at the short-sightedness of content providers.
Disappointed. Angry. Was so close to pulling the trigger on a Mac Mini and new 42″ HDTV. I haven’t had cable in years and Hulu via boxee was going to be my homecoming. Pretty bummed actually.
The thing I do know is these content providers that are trying to stifle innovation will eventually fail. Creative destruction will eventually bury them — hopefully quite deep…
Yet another win for piracy. Coupled with the recent Pirate Bay charges being dropped, media content companies seem to be doing everything in their power to ensure their timely death.
Maybe the content providers were not serious about having shows streamed for free online. Think about it. They were probably surprised to see Hulu take off the way it did and then to see it grow even more popular with Boxee. They are afraid of any other service or set top box to become a dominant player in content delivery(iTunes). Boxee is one of many ways to distribute content. Wake up!
Excellent decision!! I like Hulu and I come here regularly but u have to let these content providers know that we have other ways to get that content.
This doesn’t help. Provide alternatives not restrictions.
Just wanted to add the the number of folks who are seriously disappointed with this. I can totally understand your response to their request – without content, you’ve got nothing – but I hope you’ll relay to the providers your user’s EXTREME unhappiness with this.
Also, it would be really helpful for us to understand why this is such a big deal…we view the ads either way, right? Is there some other reason we’re missing?