Hulu: Mainstream Media Gets Social
Author: Ed
Permalink
12 Mar 08
30 Rock, The Simpsons, SNL, The Office,
The Big Lebowski and more—free. Pass it on at Hulu.com
Watch your favorite TV shows and movies.
Anytime. Anywhere. Free.
Save the TiVo
After five months of Beta testing, today NBC Universal and Fox launched Hulu.com, mainstream media’s online answer to socially networked video sites like YouTube. Unlike YouTube, Hulu offers viewers online-anytime premium, recognized content with full production values that can be viewed full screen.
Feature Rich; Feature Friendly
Amid an understated interface and tastefully-sized and unobtrusively placed ads, a simple slider bar allows you to select snippets of any Hulu streamed media and clip it—to the second. You can preview the video clip, email it to friends, copy its embed code for blog insertion, or share it on Facebook, StumbleUpon, Digg, Del.icio.us, Reddit, Windows Live, or Google bookmarks.
It’s not exactly Consumer Generated Media (CGM), but it is a great first step toward engaging a post-conventional television audience anew.
Did We Mention Content?
The site offers free streaming video, ad-supported shows and feature films from NBC, Fox, E! Entertainment, the SciFi Network, USA Networks, Sony Pictures, MGM and others. Even the NBA, NHL and the NCAA are signing on. So far, CBS and Disney’s ABC are taking a wait and see approach before joining in.
A Step in the Right Conversation
Whether sites like Hulu can deliver mainstream media outlets from the bonds of one-way communication remains to be seen. But we Beta tested Hulu and think there’s a lot to like.
Snip a clip and send it to a friend on Hulu.
