Hulu.com, MSNBC.com, and Yahoo.com will start letting viewers choose which types of ads they watch previous to video content, that according to a BusinessWeek article posted yesterday. The ad tool called ASq was tested by French ad company Publicis Groupe Media which showed users are twice as likely to click on ads when given the option to choose. Full Story
Earlier this week Reuters reported CBS in talks with Hulu to bring their TV content to the online service. Previously, CBS stayed clear of the popular website which offers content from (and is coincidentally owned by) the other big networks — NBC, ABC, and FOX. Now, with the launch of Hulu Plus (which charges a subscription fee), CBS has become more open to looking at content distribution agreements with the joint venture. Full Story
Hulu Plus has launched for select PlayStation members and will soon be available to all PS3 console owners within months. For now, selected Playstation subscribers with “Plus” level membership have the option of previewing Hulu Plus starting today for $9.99 per month. Full Story
You’ve seen Hulu, but what is Hulu Plus? Hulu Plus is the first ad-supported subscription service to offer current seasons of programming from ABC, FOX and NBC all in high-def via the internet. The service costs $9.99 a month and includes content from over 100 providers. Vizio and Hulu have now partnered to add Hulu Plus to Vizio’s Internet Apps which run on Vizio HDTVs and Blu-ray players. Full Story
PS3 may soon support a Hulu paid TV service, according to a Bloomberg report that says a partnership could be announced as early as next week. An agreement between Sony and Hulu could greatly expand the Hulu audience, which is internet-based but could move many of those viewers to their TV sets instead of computer displays. Full Story
Rumor has it that Microsoft will unveil Hulu’s streaming video service working on the Xbox 360 at this month’s E3 convention in Los Angeles. This info comes from Gear Live who says they heard it from one of their reliable sources. Full Story
With Comcast and Time-Warner now moving forward with video paywalls, are the cable companies doing what Hollywood and the music industry couldn’t do? Profit from the Internet… by forcing viewers to keep their cable subscriptions? That reality is coming sooner than you think.
The Los Angeles Times reports that Hulu will begin billing itself as the “online video service formerly known as free.” Though an actual announcement by Hulu representatives has yet to be made, and all we have is the Times’s confirmation of sources familiar with the plans, this has been long rumored and speculated about. Full Story
Last week Comcast won a big victory in the U.S. Court of Appeals that threatens the F.C.C.’s ability to regulate the Internet (in this case, keeping it wide open via the guiding principal of network neutrality). Full Story
Highlights from HD news around the web.
Did Hulu rip its name off?
A Canadian company called Hulavision is suing Hulu and NBC Universal on the grounds that its business model and name were stolen. The Canadian company claims it had confidential meetings about Hulavision which NBC Universal was to keep confidential. Read Story Full Story
Although Hulu recently lost popular Viacom content from “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report”, they may make up for some lost viewership with the addition of content from NFL Network. The NFL channel on Hulu (http://www.hulu.com/nfl) is featuring nine football categories including 149 “Game of the Week” episodes, 18 “Greatest Games” episodes, and 43 “Super Bowl Highlights.” Each team also has its own sub-channel (For example http://www.hulu.com/nfl/carolina-panthers) which makes its easier to find content for a certain team rather than browsing through categories. Full Story
Hulu suffered a major setback as of yesterday with the announcement that two of its most popular offerings would no longer be available to the service. Though Hulu will still carry links to the shows on the site, Viacom has pulled “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and the off-shoot show “The Colbert Report” from Hulu, and will offer full episodes and excerpts viewable through their Comedy Central website going forward (still free and advertiser supported). Full Story
Don’t know how we missed this but late last week Hulu added the Criterion Collection channel, starting with six films from the “Zatoichi” series of Japanese films. There are 26 “Zatoichi” films in total dated from 1962 until 1989. (A remake of the original was released in 2003.) The films are also known as “Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman” and are titled as such on Hulu.com. Criterion says they will be adding more films soon. Check out the new channel on Hulu. Full Story
Via the news wires this morning… Vivendi S.A. is now poised to give their blessing to one of the biggest media deals this decade: a merger of Comcast with NBC/Universal that would create a joint venture largely controlled by Comcast. What could this mean for VOD fans of online content that is now free for the viewing? Full Story
Free Video on Demand service via the web (Web-VOD) may take a huge popularity hit should Comcast Corp. move forward in a possible merger of assets that includes NBC-Universal’s Bravo, SyFy (formerly SciFi) and Hulu.com properties. Full Story
- Limited Time
Recent Comments