We don't enjoy saying that the first ball has dropped here, but it sureseems that way. Hulu, which was called by NBC an “evil plan to destroythe world,” might just be destroying NBC's hope of raking in anyserious profits. The site delivers all sorts of television programs toonline viewers at no cost, only requiring them to watch ads along theway. For many, it has been seen as something that was “too good to betrue.” But still, Hulu was making money from ads, and viewers weretuning in in greater numbers due to the flexibility of being able towatch their favorite shows whenever they pleased.
In a way, Hulu helped to revolutionize the way we view content. Now,tons of online portals have opened up for providing looks atprogramming that was reserved for the television just four or fiveyears ago, but this type of breakthrough also brings along growingpains. Growing pains such as the removal of support from Boxee (whichis still being debated, even in Congress) and the removal of some ofHulu's most popular programs. This week, parent company Viacom hasannounced that it will soon yank “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and”The Colbert Report” from Hulu, with Hulu's own Andy Forssell (seniorVP of content and distribution) saying that Hulu couldn't secure rightsto both shows from Comedy Central beyond March 9.
This whole situation brings up an interesting debate. Clearly, thesetwo shows cater to the demographic most likely to tune into Hulu;younger professionals with busy lives and no real way to carve outspecific hours to watch shows. In other words, these viewers would bemost likely to watch online versus on TV, and Comedy Central may beseeing this as an opportunity to grab subscription fees. Both shows,strangely enough, will continue to be posted online for free viewing attheir respective official sites, but users will have to manually surfover there rather than just pulling up Hulu and using that portal.
So, what will this mean for the future of Internet TV? Well, it prettymuch cements the fact that it's not going away. If Comedy Centralexecutives care enough about how many people are watching via Hulu,then it's a pretty safe bet to assume that these shows will keep comingonline. The real question is: will they eventually cost anything toview outside of watching ads?
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