The Stream

When Hulu was launched in 2007, it was a streamed kick to the shins to the cable industry. Many network websites had been offering streaming versions of their television shows, but Hulu would combine all of those together, and offer shows from ABC, Fox, and NBC, with ads for free. Dominating the internet with legal streaming of television programs for free, Hulu stood to even make a dent in YouTube and Netflix. Now, almost four years later, Hulu may be screwed.

The recent Comcast/NBCUni merger has involved shuffling of papers and people between the two media powerhouses. In the crossfire was Hulu, the once completely free TV alternative on the internet. Comcast, being a cable company, would have loved to beging to put restrictions on the streaming of television shows, however the deal was struck that they could not make any changes, and effectively, NBC's share in owning Hulu was annulled.

Nowadays if you go to Hulu, you can search for plenty of videos to watch, but because of the plus, you can only preview many of them. It's incredibly annoying to search for a video, find it, and with no idea aim to watch it but only get to watch two minutes of it because it's only available for Hulu+ users. Less and less seems to be free on the internet, but it also seems to be the case that many people are willing to pay some sort of monthly fee for unlimited access to streaming content. Netflix blew the lid off of digital content when they made their service available to video game console owners via their Xbox 360, PS3, or even the Wii.

While Hulu did increase its revenue last year up to $240 million, that's still less than half of what Netflix made, $553 million. Netflix has single handedly driven traditional video rental to extinction, leaving Blockbuster in the dust and they are on the way to potentially eclipsing Hulu completely.

Yup, Hulu may be heading for their demise. While it stood a chance in its youth, unless something changes it will be left behind. CEO Jason Kilar didn't help much when he ranted about television ads and how they have doomed the business, a stupid move considering the companies that own Hulu are major television broadcasters [The Hollywood Reporter]. In a way, he is right. No one wants to watch commercials, except during the Super Bowl. Plus, in the recent years, syndicated television shows have their opening and closing credit sequences cut. Why? More ads. It sucks when you sit down to watch your favorite show and you only get to see it for 8 minutes at a time before 6 minutes of commercials pop up.

Hulu was revolutionary in this aspect, only making you watch a single commercial where ads normally go during act breaks of TV shows. However, it's not enough and ads have only spread rather than becoming less. YouTube now randomly starts videos with ads, and it seems like more and more they begin every video. Completely free streaming content is becoming endangered. Things have changed in the past four years. Where we go from here is up to three things: Comcast/NBCUni, set to dominate the entertainment/media industry; Google, as owners of YouTube they hold a heavy stock in the streaming of free digital content, and where they take that will pave the way for the entire industry; and lastly, pirates. No, not Johnny Depp or Black Beard, digital pirates.

Digital piracy has hit the entertainment industry hard in the past decade. A lot of television shows lately are in trouble because they can't keep their ratings up, which is in part due to live numbers dropping due to piracy. It's lame that shows are in trouble because of that since it's not because people aren't watching, it's just that the companies aren't getting the money. We all remember the Wolverine Pirate Bay incident a few years back, which actually had the opposite effect you would expect. It actually generated more revenue for the movie than had it not been illegally released for download before the theatrical release. Still, it was a blatant act of piracy, but I don't want to rant about that.

If I could predict where the digital industry is headed, I would say that unless Hulu can pull itself together, offer more content, more access via portable devices and consoles, they won't be able to compete with Netflix. By 2012, many big changes are set to occur for the entertainment industry, and we as consumers will be the driving force behind those changes.

Stream on.

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