Every once in a while, you stumble across something so cool that you have to create a whole new blog section for it. This is definitely one of those times.
Today, I’ll be blogging about the soon to be launched video service, Hulu.
For those of you unfamiliar with the site, Hulu provides its users with high-quality, video clips of TV shows, movies and web programming.. Many have dubbed it the “YouTube killer” because of its first-rate, licensed content and appealing distribution model.
NBC Universal has partnered with the site and moved a good deal of its content over to the new platform. After its much-publicized departure from the Apple iTunes store, the network turned to Hulu to distribute their programming. Fox has also followed suit and entered into an agreement with the site.
These partnerships have loaded Hulu with content from all sorts of networks including Sci-Fi Channel, Bravo, FX, E!, National Geographic Channel, and USA. This gives users access to full episodes of popular shows like The Office, 30 Rock, The Simpsons, Battlestar Galactica, and older shows like The Bob Newhart Show and The A-Team.
Users can embed these full-versions of TV shows and movies into their MySpace profiles, blogs, and forums for others to watch (see the bottom of this entry). It took me about 2 minutes to add two full episodes of Doogie Howser and Picket Fences to my MySpace profile, and my friends have been overjoyed with the chance to see a young Neil Patrick Harris again.
So how’s it all work? Hulu is a free service, relying on a new advertising model to distribute its content. 10 to 15 second clips of ads are dropped into the videos, and users are prohibited from fast-forwarding through them. Unlike television, the ads are much shorter and there is generally only one sponsor per video.
Hulu is currently in beta, and only accessible through invitation.
I was lucky enough to get my hands on an invite late last week, and haven’t been able to stop testing it out since. The past two nights, I’ve sat in my bed watching Tin Man in full-screen, and have spent some time catching up with my old friends from The Office.
While it may not be the “YouTube killer”, Hulu will certainly give the market leader a run for its money. Its clips run smoothly, the ads are short and almost unnoticeable, and the content is fantastic. In fact, there’s very little I can find wrong with it.
If Hulu continues to build partnerships with popular content providers, expect it to become the next big thing in web video.
