Disney acquires nearly 30% stake in Hulu • Hacker News Board

Re: Disney acquires nearly 30% stake in Hulu

#11

Post by jimbokun » Fri, May 01, 2009, 1:46 PM UTC

I wonder what this portends for the cable networks?

Once every show is offered by the producers directly from their web site, for free, be it Hulu or something else, what is the point in "TV channels?" What is the benefit that studios derive from their relationship with the cable companies? Does this reduce the cable companies role to just supplying bandwidth?

Yes, the cable companies have a lot of lobbyists, which is how they have been sustaining their economic position. But I think Disney has a couple lobbyists, too.

Re: Disney acquires nearly 30% stake in Hulu

#12

Post by adbachman » Fri, May 01, 2009, 2:01 PM UTC

jimbokun wrote: post #9

jdburdette wrote: post #8

So how long until Disney decides that Hulu should use the Move Media Player and not support any browser other than IE just like abc.com. I like Hulu because it's simple and works well, something that Disney seems to not understand.

I have wathced Lost from abc.com using Safari on my Mac. It did require me to download and install the SilverLight plug-in. I do not know the situation for other OS and browsers.

The ABC site (the "abc full episode player") isn't even silver light, it's some kind of half-assed, totally custom plugin. From the site (when browsing on linux):

Oops

Our new video player is only available for:

* Windows XP/Vista - Internet Explorer, Firefox * Mac - Firefox, Safari.

To watch, please download the appropriate browser.

Re: Disney acquires nearly 30% stake in Hulu

#13

Post by biohacker42 » Fri, May 01, 2009, 2:02 PM UTC

Cartel! And yet I still think that's an improvement. At least this way they can disintermediate the local telco monopoly.

Re: Disney acquires nearly 30% stake in Hulu

#14

Post by Xichekolas » Fri, May 01, 2009, 2:09 PM UTC

jdburdette wrote: post #8

So how long until Disney decides that Hulu should use the Move Media Player and not support any browser other than IE just like abc.com. I like Hulu because it's simple and works well, something that Disney seems to not understand.

Hopefully it means just the opposite: ABC shows will show up on Hulu along with Fox/NBC ones. Then we could all watch Lost on Hulu.

Re: Disney acquires nearly 30% stake in Hulu

#15

Post by chez17 » Fri, May 01, 2009, 2:54 PM UTC

adbachman wrote: post #12

jimbokun wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have wathced Lost from abc.com using Safari on my Mac. It did require me to download and install the SilverLight plug-in. I do not know the situation for other OS and browsers.

The ABC site (the "abc full episode player") isn't even silver light, it's some kind of half-assed, totally custom plugin. From the site (when browsing on linux): Oops Our new video player is only available for: * Windows XP/Vista - Internet Explorer, Firefox * Mac - Firefox, Safari. To watch, please download the appropriate browser.

You can just run FF in wine and watch it from there. It works for me. Sometimes the video doesn't appear, but if you hit full screen then return it to normal, it starts working.

Re: Disney acquires nearly 30% stake in Hulu

#16

Post by sant0sk1 » Fri, May 01, 2009, 3:01 PM UTC

jdburdette wrote: post #8

So how long until Disney decides that Hulu should use the Move Media Player and not support any browser other than IE just like abc.com. I like Hulu because it's simple and works well, something that Disney seems to not understand.

The worst part about the ABC player is it assumes you are sitting right in front of your computer and requires you to click a link to continue the video.

Retarded.

Re: Disney acquires nearly 30% stake in Hulu

#17

Post by fortes » Fri, May 01, 2009, 3:15 PM UTC

adbachman wrote: post #12

jimbokun wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have wathced Lost from abc.com using Safari on my Mac. It did require me to download and install the SilverLight plug-in. I do not know the situation for other OS and browsers.

The ABC site (the "abc full episode player") isn't even silver light, it's some kind of half-assed, totally custom plugin. From the site (when browsing on linux): Oops Our new video player is only available for: * Windows XP/Vista - Internet Explorer, Firefox * Mac - Firefox, Safari. To watch, please download the appropriate browser.

The ABC player does blow, but I manage to run it on Firefox in XP. I really hope they just move to the Hulu player.

Re: Disney acquires nearly 30% stake in Hulu

#18

Post by mdasen » Fri, May 01, 2009, 3:15 PM UTC

ashleyw wrote: post #2

I envy US residents — I really hope Hulu is actually working on getting it opened up to the rest of the world (especially the UK!)

The issue isn't with Hulu. The issue is how media is licensed for different markets. For example, let's say that Lost is licensed to ABC for broadcast in the US and licensed to Sky TV for broadcast in the UK. Who gets to put it on Hulu? Can Sky TV put it on Hulu and get ad revenues from American viewers? Could the producers of Lost put it on Hulu and get ad revenues in markets where they already licensed it to another company?

That's the issue. The internet tends to be international, but there are some things that are still national and here's where they collide. If Hulu comes to the UK, the programs will be different simply because different people own the distribution rights in the UK.

If you want to do something about this, write to the companies that broadcast the shows in your territory that you'd like to see them on Hulu. I'm sure Hulu would be more than happy to be a part of the UK market. I'm guessing the issue is more getting UK broadcasters on board.

Re: Disney acquires nearly 30% stake in Hulu

#19

Post by jrockway » Fri, May 01, 2009, 4:33 PM UTC

fortes wrote: post #17

adbachman wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ABC site (the "abc full episode player") isn't even silver light, it's some kind of half-assed, totally custom plugin. From the site (when browsing on linux): Oops Our new video player is only available for: * Windows XP/Vista - Internet Explorer, Firefox * Mac - Firefox, Safari. To watch, please download the appropriate browser.

The ABC player does blow, but I manage to run it on Firefox in XP. I really hope they just move to the Hulu player.

Why fight with this when you can just get the episode from Usenet or the Pirate Bay?

Re: Disney acquires nearly 30% stake in Hulu

#20

Post by mediaman » Fri, May 01, 2009, 4:35 PM UTC

froo wrote: post #5

rjurney wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't envy us too much - they only give us 5 episodes of family guy, and this pains us greatly. We're flipping out over here, 'first try is free' and all that. :(

So the first 5 episodes of family guy plus every other piece of content on hulu is better than nothing how? Just curious how we're not supposed to envy you...

It would seem rjurney's point is that more options may have lower utility.

Suppose there are two viewers. Both are fans of Family Guy. One viewer is exposed to one episode and the other viewer is denied all access to Family Guy. The first viewer, however, is subsequently denied access to Family Guy after viewing the first episode.

If the first viewer were allowed to see all Family Guy episodes, she would eventually begin to tire of it. Each additional episode would lessen her demand for another episode. But that's only after seeing a large number of episodes. After one episode, the demand may actually be higher than having seen no episodes at all.

And if denied demand has negative utility -- the more you want something you can't have, the more it annoys you -- then that person who has seen one episode is actually worse off than the second viewer who has seen no episodes.

That stops being true at the point where each additional episode begins having declining returns, which could occur at a point after five episodes.