Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Hulu puts itself up for sale

latimesblogs.latimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 51 posts

Re: Hulu puts itself up for sale

#11

Post by jsherry »

Same theme over and over and it's frustrating: technology is fully ready to support streaming and on demand programming, but the content providers don't like licensing the content because it cannibalizes their TV product. And who can blame them really? They're the only show in town and they should cash in via whatever method best suits them.

The only real chance for things like Hulu and Netflix to succeed no-holds-barred, carrying everybody's content, is for them to carry their own content. Netflix is starting to do this and finally some competition in the form of fresh content is beginning to occur. Now if this behavior goes mainstream, people may stop watching traditional television in lieu of Netflix not only because they like the convenience but also prefer the programming. Then we have real incentive for the networks to get their stuff back on streaming platforms because it will no longer be a question of cannibalism, but one of losing viewersip altogether.

This makes sense in my head - hopefully it does too here ;-)

Re: Hulu puts itself up for sale

#12

Post by aninteger »

joeguilmette wrote: post #7
c2 wrote: post #2

Really throws the future of Hulu in doubt. If the big three media companies are no longer part owners, and they already see Hulu as undermining and upsetting their traditional partners, what incentive do they have to continue providing free content? If anything at this point Hulu will be a talent acquisition.

i love Hulu and really dont like Netflix... if Hulu dies I'm going to be firing up Utorrent for the first time in a long time.

Why exactly do you like Hulu? It seems they offer the same content that exists if you go directly to TV channel websites (abc.com, nbc.com, cbs.com, etc). I never found anything on their site that didn't exist on the network's own sites.

Yes, Hulu Plus has older seasons for certain shows but so does Netflix.

If, and only if, they start streaming Mad Men or Breaking Bad then I'm in!

Re: Hulu puts itself up for sale

#13

Post by spydertennis »

aninteger wrote: post #12
joeguilmette wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i love Hulu and really dont like Netflix... if Hulu dies I'm going to be firing up Utorrent for the first time in a long time.

Why exactly do you like Hulu? It seems they offer the same content that exists if you go directly to TV channel websites (abc.com, nbc.com, cbs.com, etc). I never found anything on their site that didn't exist on the network's own sites. Yes, Hulu Plus has older seasons for certain shows but so does Netflix. If, and only if, they start streaming Mad Men or Breaking Bad then I'm in!

Do you use Kayak or go direct to the airline?

There's a lot to be said for aggregation + really nice UI. Plus they have streaming 720p (drool) and some pretty decent movies.

Re: Hulu puts itself up for sale

#14

Post by americandesi333 »

jerf wrote: post #6
phlux wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why wouldnt netflix want it? Other than Adrian is pretty damn smart in saying that netflix will only be a cloud consumer - so if Hulu is heavily reliant on their own HW infrastructure for their current delivery - then I can see netflix stating its not a good fit for their model.

'Why wouldnt netflix want it?" I'm pretty sure the correct question is "Why would Netflix want it?" (companies don't generally acquire other companies "because why not?", at least not ones that hang around long), and I can't say I see a good answer to that. The only thing that Netflix could win with would be licensing deals, except Hulu doesn't actually have them, as they are all short term deals. If Netflix and NBC…

Just to play devil's advocate here, if you step back and see, Hulu is not a bad acquisition for Netflix and why? Its because Hulu will bring Netflix the 'scale' and additional premium customers. I know a lot of people who purchase Hulu or Netflix, but cannot justify buying both.

Re: Hulu puts itself up for sale

#15

Post by joeguilmette »

aninteger wrote: post #12
joeguilmette wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i love Hulu and really dont like Netflix... if Hulu dies I'm going to be firing up Utorrent for the first time in a long time.

Why exactly do you like Hulu? It seems they offer the same content that exists if you go directly to TV channel websites (abc.com, nbc.com, cbs.com, etc). I never found anything on their site that didn't exist on the network's own sites. Yes, Hulu Plus has older seasons for certain shows but so does Netflix. If, and only if, they start streaming Mad Men or Breaking Bad then I'm in!

I like them because I can decide I like a show like The Office or Lie To Me, and I can watch all episodes, even new ones the day they come out.

This is not true of Netflix or many TV websites.

Re: Hulu puts itself up for sale

#16

Post by spydertennis »

jsherry wrote: post #11

Same theme over and over and it's frustrating: technology is fully ready to support streaming and on demand programming, but the content providers don't like licensing the content because it cannibalizes their TV product. And who can blame them really? They're the only show in town and they should cash in via whatever method best suits them. The only real chance for things like Hulu and Netflix to succeed no-holds-ba…

One thought I had was that Hulu/Netflix should buy the rights to cancelled shows that have popular followings and pay to have new seasons made. Obviously this is fraught with potential problems (people are committed to other projects) but it could be cool.

Re: Hulu puts itself up for sale

#17

Post by MatthewPhillips »

aninteger wrote: post #12
joeguilmette wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i love Hulu and really dont like Netflix... if Hulu dies I'm going to be firing up Utorrent for the first time in a long time.

Why exactly do you like Hulu? It seems they offer the same content that exists if you go directly to TV channel websites (abc.com, nbc.com, cbs.com, etc). I never found anything on their site that didn't exist on the network's own sites. Yes, Hulu Plus has older seasons for certain shows but so does Netflix. If, and only if, they start streaming Mad Men or Breaking Bad then I'm in!

I like it because I can stream current season shows on the television.

Re: Hulu puts itself up for sale

#18

Post by redthrowaway »

spydertennis wrote: post #16
jsherry wrote: post #11

Same theme over and over and it's frustrating: technology is fully ready to support streaming and on demand programming, but the content providers don't like licensing the content because it cannibalizes their TV product. And who can blame them really? They're the only show in town and they should cash in via whatever method best suits them. The only real chance for things like Hulu and Netflix to succeed no-holds-ba…

One thought I had was that Hulu/Netflix should buy the rights to cancelled shows that have popular followings and pay to have new seasons made. Obviously this is fraught with potential problems (people are committed to other projects) but it could be cool.

They would have to buy those rights from TV studios, who would for obviously reasons be loathe to part with them. Even producing their own shows is problematic, as the studios can blackball any actors/writers/directors/production people who work with them.

The television and film industry is a tight-knit group, and I can easily see them circling the wagons in order to protect their distribution monopoly.

Re: Hulu puts itself up for sale

#19

Post by zitterbewegung »

spydertennis wrote: post #13
aninteger wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why exactly do you like Hulu? It seems they offer the same content that exists if you go directly to TV channel websites (abc.com, nbc.com, cbs.com, etc). I never found anything on their site that didn't exist on the network's own sites. Yes, Hulu Plus has older seasons for certain shows but so does Netflix. If, and only if, they start streaming Mad Men or Breaking Bad then I'm in!

Do you use Kayak or go direct to the airline? There's a lot to be said for aggregation + really nice UI. Plus they have streaming 720p (drool) and some pretty decent movies.

Netflix has HD streaming also.

Re: Hulu puts itself up for sale

#20

Post by nl »

Hulu is probably the most surprising success on the internet today.

Remember when Google referred to it as ClownCo because of the chance they thought it had of succeeding[1][2]? Most people agreed with that assessment, given the lack of success News, Disney & NBC had with digital projects prior to that. What chance did a company have when it had to try & get them all to work together?

The Hulu CEO (Jason Kilar) has done an excellent job.

[1] http://techcrunch.com/2007/03/22/confirmed-tv-networks-launc...

[2] http://techcrunch.com/2007/03/23/what-we-know-so-far-about-n...

Post reply on HN