The Inquisitr » video streaming

Everyone, blow kisses and say goodnight to free Hulu!

Kim LaCapria — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:11:38 +0000

News Corp Deputy Chairman Chase Carey told press that the service won’t be free anymore starting as soon as 2010. (That’s in two months, people!)

Carey told reporters that Hulu was likely to become a subscription service, although it’s not clear how the video-streaming site plans to lure users who have been using it for free all along. Over on Twitter, many irritated fans say they would consider paying for the service if ads were cut, but I’d think such a significant change would have been worth a mention by Carey when he broke the news to reporters. Carey merely said:

“I think a free model is a very difficult way to capture the value of our content. I think what we need to do is deliver that content to consumers in a way where they will appreciate the value.”

Of course, as Hulu has been a “free model” all along, it seems like a tough row to hoe trying to charge for it now. If the only additional access in this scenario is between Hulu and your wallet, customers are likely to just get their content through other means. However, going by other companies who’ve decided to charge for content suddenly with no added benefit (such as Newsday hallucinating that people will pay $20 a month to read about pumpkin picking and car wrecks on Long Island), it’s not that much of a stretch to believe that Hulu is suffering from the same delusions of grandeur. Which is a shame, because everyone I know who uses Hulu regularly adores it.

Hulu for PS3: Denied

Kim LaCapria — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:59:12 +0000

“Unfortunately, this video is not available on your platform. We apologize for any inconvenience.” Burn.

Sometime this weekend, Playstation 3 owners began reporting inability to access Hulu through the device, and receiving the above message. Hulu was kind of all huhwha? about the whole thing, but Engadget reports that Hulu terms of service were updated on June 26th. While it was initially speculated the issues could be connected to a recent firmware update, altering a browser’s user-string that way indicates the PS3 was specifically blocked by Hulu.

But why, Hulu? Why you gotta be like that?

Way back in March, Hulu blocked the hell out of Boxee, citing consumer convenience bitching content providers. Since then, it’s been an on/off thing, spawning this Twitter feed:

While Hulu can’t bite the content-providing hand that feeds it, it’s extremely counterintuitive to provide such a service just to add arbitrary blocks making it inconvenient to use. And as Hulu hasn’t given a reason for the new lockdown, we can only speculate as to why the PS3 was selected for this round of “no content for you!”

IT World presents two theories on the matter. Theory #1- quit bringing the content to your TVs, damnit! If you’re gonna watch Hulu, it’s gonna be on your smudgy little laptop screen or not at all! (Because no one can hook computers up to TVs, that’s just crazytalk?) Theory #2- Hulu’s coming to the XBox 360, and Microsoft paid Hulu to cut off competition.

Whatever the reason is behind this latest round of early-adopter jerking-around, it’s just another example of short-sightedness regarding a changing marketplace. The same consumers that use services like Hulu are likely the ones who are already aware of how to implement a work around, like PlayOn. So they’re not really stopping anything, just pissing everyone off.

Sweet: YouTube coming to your TV!

Kim LaCapria — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 21:20:40 +0000

In a small gathering of press this morning, YouTube unveiled YouTube XL- a new service that brings your favorite cat falling off stuff and shoddy folk cover videos straight to your TV!

While online computer-to-tv streaming services and Hulu and Boxee offer content optimized for TV, YouTube videos often didn’t even really do well in monitor full-screen mode. But YouTube XL changes that, optimizing content for viewing even on huge-screen TVs.

Although YouTube XL lacks some features of regular YouTube, (most notably the comments, yay!) YouTube XL supports playlists, HD video and even has an application called Gmote for Android phones. (Where’s the iPhone love at, YouTube?) And unlike Hulu Desktop, which needs a computer to rock and roll, you can use YouTube XL on devices with a browser such as the Wii, XBox and PS3- making the interface friendly for a larger group of users.

Wanna take it for a spin? Go on!

Disney Offers Free Movie Streaming

JR — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 22:07:28 +0000

Disney’s doling out some of its most beloved movies for free.

The company will start airing flicks on the ABC network Saturday nights, then putting the full-length features on Disney.com’s “Wonderful World of Disney” section for the following week. It’ll happen all summer.

“Finding Nemo,” “Monsters, Inc.,” and “Freaky Friday” are already on the line-up. Expect to see plenty of magically inserted mid-movie ads.