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What's all the hoo-hah over hulu.com about? | Technology | The Guardian
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Newly asked questions

What's all the hoo-hah over hulu.com about?

Streaming video of top telly shows, free on the interweb: it sounds worth making a hoo-hah about. NBC announced the launch of the site after its agreement with Apple to distribute TV shows via iTunes fell apart back in August.

According to NBC, it accounted for 40% of video downloads on iTunes, so clearly that online content - and revenue - had to go somewhere. The result was hulu.com, a joint venture between NBC Universal and News Corp.

Hulu.com will offer embedded streaming videos on the website, supported by advertising - which, it says, will be less annoying than adverts on broadcast television: they will be in the form of banners alongside the video, text along the bottom of the picture or clips that are interspersed with the stuff you actually want to see.

It doesn't require any technical expertise to get it up and running: it's just a Flash player, running in your browser. The content line-up looks good: it comes from both partners as well as offering films from Sony and Universal, while cable channels such as Bravo!, FX and SciFi are also represented. The shows include current hits such as 24, Heroes and House, as well as classics including Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And it will be available via partners including AOL, MySpace and MSN.

But hulu.com has shot itself in the foot. First, the website doesn't work outside the US. This presumably is to do with advertising deals, but, as commenters point out on its blog, that's contrary to the global spirit of the internet. More importantly, you can can't grab the content for later viewing on your PC, iPod or other device. Would-be users are upset: "Are you just plain stupid?" says one. The most pithy says: "Dear NBC. You have too many morons employed in key decision-making positions." He might have a point.


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