Hulu
Encyclopedia
Hulu is a website
and over-the-top
(OTT) subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video
of TV shows, movies, webisode
s and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC
, Fox
, ABC
, and Obstacle on October 20th 2011 Nickelodeon
and CBS and many other networks and studios. Hulu videos are currently offered only to users in Japan and the United States
and its overseas territories. Hulu provides video in Flash Video format, including many films and shows that are available in 288p, 360p, 480p
, and in some cases, 720 HD. Hulu also provides web syndication
services for other websites including AOL
, MSN
, MySpace
, Facebook
, Yahoo!
, and Comcast
's xfinityTV
.
Hulu is a joint venture of NBCUniversal (Comcast
/General Electric
), Fox Entertainment Group
(News Corp
) and Disney-ABC Television Group
(The Walt Disney Company
), with funding by Providence Equity Partners
, the owner of Newport Television
, which made a US$
100 million equity investment
and received a 10% stake.
, bottle gourd" and hulu "interactive recording". The company blog explains:
was named the CEO in June. The name Hulu was chosen in late August 2007, when the website went live, with an announcement only and no content. It invited users to leave their email addresses for the upcoming beta test. In October, Hulu began the private beta testing by invitation, and later allowed users to invite friends. Hulu launched for public access in the United States
on March 12, 2008. The first product to launch was the HULU Syndication network, which was designed and developed by the NBCUniversal team from New York, on 10-29-2007, followed by the HULU.com destinations site.
Hulu began an advertising campaign during NBC's broadcast of Super Bowl XLIII
with an initial ad starring Alec Baldwin
titled "Alec in Huluwood". The ad intended to humorously reveal "the shocking secret behind Hulu", portraying the site as being an "evil plot to destroy the world" by suggesting that Baldwin is really an alien in disguise. Advertisements have since aired featuring Eliza Dushku
, Seth MacFarlane
and Denis Leary
.
On April 30, 2009, Disney announced that it would join the venture, purchasing a 27% stake in Hulu.
At an industry conference on October 21, 2009, News Corporation
Deputy Chairman Chase Carey
stated that Hulu "needs to evolve to have a meaningful subscription model as part of its business" and that it would likely start charging for at least some content by 2010. Carey's comment jibes with other News Corp. heads, including Rupert Murdoch who has expressed a desire to charge for content with a number of on-line units.
Early in 2010, Hulu chief executive Jason Kilar said the service has made a profit in two quarters, and that the company could top $100 million in revenue by summer 2010, more than its income for all of 2009. ComScore
says monthly video streams reached 903 million in January 2010, over three times the figure for a year earlier, and second only to YouTube
.
Hulu Plus, a monthly subscription service, was launched in beta (preview) on June 29, 2010 and officially launched on November 17, 2010. Like the free version of Hulu, the video available on Hulu Plus also contains commercials. However, it offers subscribers an expanded content library in the form of full seasons and more episodes of shows already available through Hulu. Hulu Plus is available on a wide range of platforms, including:
As of January 17 2011, Hulu has streamed its own in-house web series The Morning After
, a light-hearted pop-culture news show. It is produced by Hulu in conjunction with Jace Hall's
HDFilms and stars Brian Kimmet and Ginger Gonzaga. Producing the show is a first for the company, which in the past has been primarily a content distributor.
Hulu has been identified as a possible candidate for an IPO by 2013. On August 16, 2010, a report revealed that Hulu is planning an Initial Public Offering
(IPO) which could value the U.S. video viewing site at more than $2 billion.
On June 21, 2011, The Wall Street Journal
reported that an "unsolicited offer" caused Hulu to begin "weighing whether to sell itself."
Starting August 15, 2011, viewers of content from Fox and related networks will have to authenticate whether they subscribe to a paid cable or satellite service wherever Fox streams episodes, including Hulu, to be able to watch them the morning after the first airing. Non-subscribers will see those episodes delayed a week before they are viewable.
On October 13, 2011, Hulu and its owners have announced that they will not sell the popular video site after all. None of the bidders offered an amount that was satisfactory to its owners.
On October 28, 2011, Hulu announced that they had inked a five-year deal with The CW, giving the streaming site access to next-day content from five of the six major networks.
, PBS
, USA Network
, Bravo, Fuel TV
, FX, NFL Network
, Speed, Big Ten Network, Syfy
, Style
, Sundance, E!
, G4
, Versus
, A&E
, Oxygen
and online comedy sources such as Onion News Network
. Each supplier gets 50 to 70 percent of advertising revenue resulting from its content.
In November 2009, Hulu also began to establish partnerships with record labels to host music videos and concert performances on the site, including EMI
in November 2009, and Warner Music Group
in December 2009.
In early March 2010, headlines were made when Viacom
announced that they were pulling two of the website's most popular shows, The Daily Show
and The Colbert Report, off Hulu. The programs had been airing on Hulu since late 2008. A spokesman for Viacom noted: "In the current economic model, there is not that much in it for us to continue at this time. If they can get to the point where the monetization model is better, then we may go back." In February 2011, both shows were made available for streaming on Hulu once again.
to the TV via HDMI
or other connection
. Additionally, the Hulu Plus service, fully launched in November 2010, allows first-party access to Hulu from a variety of Blu-Ray linked TVs, integrated into Internet-connected televisions, iOS devices, gaming consoles, and set-top boxes.
In late June 2010, it was announced that a version of Hulu would be available to the iTunes App Store for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch running iOS4 or higher. Viewing the content on Hulu, however, requires a subscription.
On November 2010, Orb Networks announced the Orb TV box which streams Hulu on the TV for free when used in conjunction with a computer and a smartphone.
and is designed to be compatible with existing computer remote controls. It requires a Flash player and runs on Windows
, Linux
, and Mac OS X
. Hulu Desktop does not currently support all content accessed through normal browser means.
The latest version of the software was released on February 10, 2011, bringing the version number to 0.9.14. The new version includes both bug fixes and also support for the new Hulu Plus subscription service.
On August 17, 2011, Hulu debuted its first long-form original production entitled, A Day in the Life.
and Ireland
in September 2009, but as of April 2010 these had been abandoned for the foreseeable future after failure to sign any content deals. In July 2010, the Financial Times
revealed that Hulu had been working on plans for an international launch of Hulu Plus for several months, and had identified the UK and Japan as markets where its free website and subscription model could feasibly work. Hulu chief executive Jason Kilar expressed his belief that the US model could be replicated elsewhere, saying "We won't be satisfied until this is a global service." Hulu's first expansion into an international market took place with the launching of service in Japan on September 1, 2011. Japanese users will have access to a library of popular television shows such as the CSI franchise, Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty, and Prison Break, as well as movies such as Pirates of the Caribbean, Men in Black and Armageddon. In the near future, it will also add local content from Japan as well as entertainment from other Asian regions.
As of February 2009, Hulu has pulled its content from CBS Corp.'s TV.com
, and from Boxee
, a software firm that makes Internet video suitable for viewing on a large screen, like a television connected to a PC. However, Hulu worked with PlayOn
, which when combined with an Xbox 360
, PS3, or certain other devices would allow playback of Hulu content on a TV. Also, Boxee produced a workaround for Hulu support.
Additionally, not all content is available indefinitely. Full episodes of television shows rotate which are available, showing anywhere from 1 to 10 of the latest episodes, depending on the show. New episodes of T.V shows belonging to FOX aren't released to basic hulu members until the next episode is released. Certain movies are also featured on the site and available for viewing on a rotating basis. Once a full episode or movie has rotated off of the website, users can subscribe to Hulu+ (premium subscription) to view episodes from all seasons.
Hulu is not available in Singapore largely due to xinmsn.com and all the people have now been downloading Korean, Japanese and Chinese shows, including movies. People download shows into 'A.C. Ryan', 'Western Digital' or specific downloads.
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
and over-the-top
Over-the-top content
In the fields of broadcasting and content delivery, over-the-top content means on-line delivery of video and audio without the Internet service provider being involved in the control or distribution of the content itself...
(OTT) subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video
Streaming media
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...
of TV shows, movies, webisode
Webisode
A webisode is a short episode which airs initially as Internet television, either download or stream as opposed to first airing on broadcast or cable television. The format can be used as a preview, a promotion, as part of a collection of shorts, or a commercial.A webisode can be an episode...
s and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
, ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, and Obstacle on October 20th 2011 Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
and CBS and many other networks and studios. Hulu videos are currently offered only to users in Japan and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and its overseas territories. Hulu provides video in Flash Video format, including many films and shows that are available in 288p, 360p, 480p
480p
480p is the shorthand name for a video display resolution. The p stands for progressive scan, i.e. non-interlaced. The 480 denotes a vertical resolution of 480 pixel high vertically scanning lines, usually with a horizontal resolution of 640 pixels and 4:3 aspect ratio or a horizontal resolution of...
, and in some cases, 720 HD. Hulu also provides web syndication
Web syndication
Web syndication is a form of syndication in which website material is made available to multiple other sites. Most commonly, web syndication refers to making web feeds available from a site in order to provide other people with a summary or update of the website's recently added content...
services for other websites including AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
, MSN
MSN
MSN is a collection of Internet sites and services provided by Microsoft. The Microsoft Network debuted as an online service and Internet service provider on August 24, 1995, to coincide with the release of the Windows 95 operating system.The range of services offered by MSN has changed since its...
, MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
, Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
, and Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
's xfinityTV
Comcast Interactive Media
Comcast Interactive Media is a division of Comcast focusing on online media. CIM was created in 2005 and is headed by President, Amy Banse, and Executive Vice President, Samuel Schwartz...
.
Hulu is a joint venture of NBCUniversal (Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
/General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
), Fox Entertainment Group
Fox Entertainment Group
The Fox Entertainment Group is an American entertainment industry company that owns film studios and terrestrial, cable, and direct broadcast satellite television properties...
(News Corp
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
) and Disney-ABC Television Group
Disney-ABC Television Group
Disney-ABC Television Group manages all of The Walt Disney Company's worldwide entertainment and news television properties...
(The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
), with funding by Providence Equity Partners
Providence Equity Partners
Providence Equity Partners is a global private equity investment firm focused on media, entertainment, communications and information investments...
, the owner of Newport Television
Newport Television
Newport Television, LLC is a television station holding company founded by Providence Equity Partners and Sandy DiPasquale in 2007 to acquire the television stations owned by Clear Channel Communications. In September 2007, Newport agreed to sell KFTY and KVOS-TV to LK Station Group LLC for $26.6...
, which made a US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
100 million equity investment
Ownership equity
In accounting and finance, equity is the residual claim or interest of the most junior class of investors in assets, after all liabilities are paid. If liability exceeds assets, negative equity exists...
and received a 10% stake.
Name
The name Hulu comes from two Mandarin Chinese words, hulu "calabashCalabash
Lagenaria siceraria , bottle gourd, opo squash or long melon is a vine grown for its fruit, which can either be harvested young and used as a vegetable, or harvested mature, dried, and used as a bottle, utensil, or pipe. For this reason, the calabash is widely known as the bottle gourd...
, bottle gourd" and hulu "interactive recording". The company blog explains:
In Mandarin, Hulu has two interesting meanings, each highly relevant to our mission. The primary meaning interested us because it is used in an ancient Chinese proverb that describes the Hulu as the holder of precious things. It literally translates to "gourd," and in ancient times, the Hulu was hollowed out and used to hold precious things. The secondary meaning is "interactive recording." We saw both definitions as appropriate bookends and highly relevant to the mission of Hulu.
History
The Hulu venture was announced in March 2007 with AOL, MSN, Comcast, MySpace and Yahoo! planned as "initial distribution partners". A team from NBCUniversal & News corporation lead the company under interim CEO George Kliavkoff, to begin with. " Jason KilarJason Kilar
Jason Kilar is the current CEO of Hulu, a joint venture of ABC, NBC Universal, and NewsCorp. He was previously an Amazon executive. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School....
was named the CEO in June. The name Hulu was chosen in late August 2007, when the website went live, with an announcement only and no content. It invited users to leave their email addresses for the upcoming beta test. In October, Hulu began the private beta testing by invitation, and later allowed users to invite friends. Hulu launched for public access in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on March 12, 2008. The first product to launch was the HULU Syndication network, which was designed and developed by the NBCUniversal team from New York, on 10-29-2007, followed by the HULU.com destinations site.
Hulu began an advertising campaign during NBC's broadcast of Super Bowl XLIII
Super Bowl XLIII
Super Bowl XLIII was an American football game pitting the American Football Conference champion Pittsburgh Steelers against the National Football Conference champion Arizona Cardinals to decide the National Football League champion for the 2008 season. The game was played on February 1, 2009,...
with an initial ad starring Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin
Alexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III is an American actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.Baldwin first gained recognition through television for his work in the soap opera Knots Landing in the role of Joshua Rush. He was a cast member for two seasons before his character was killed off...
titled "Alec in Huluwood". The ad intended to humorously reveal "the shocking secret behind Hulu", portraying the site as being an "evil plot to destroy the world" by suggesting that Baldwin is really an alien in disguise. Advertisements have since aired featuring Eliza Dushku
Eliza Dushku
Eliza Patricia Dushku is an American actress known for her television roles, including recurring appearances as Faith on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff series Angel. She starred in two Fox series, Tru Calling and Dollhouse...
, Seth MacFarlane
Seth MacFarlane
Seth Woodbury MacFarlane is an American animator, writer, comedian, producer, actor, singer, voice actor, and director best known for creating the animated sitcoms Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show, for which he also voices many of the shows' various characters.A native of Kent,...
and Denis Leary
Denis Leary
Denis Colin Leary is an Irish-American actor, comedian, writer and director. Leary is known for his biting, fast paced comedic style and chain smoking...
.
On April 30, 2009, Disney announced that it would join the venture, purchasing a 27% stake in Hulu.
At an industry conference on October 21, 2009, News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
Deputy Chairman Chase Carey
Chase Carey
Chase Carey is the President, Chief Operating Officer , and Deputy Chairman of News Corporation, a major international media conglomerate.-Education:...
stated that Hulu "needs to evolve to have a meaningful subscription model as part of its business" and that it would likely start charging for at least some content by 2010. Carey's comment jibes with other News Corp. heads, including Rupert Murdoch who has expressed a desire to charge for content with a number of on-line units.
Early in 2010, Hulu chief executive Jason Kilar said the service has made a profit in two quarters, and that the company could top $100 million in revenue by summer 2010, more than its income for all of 2009. ComScore
ComScore
comScore is a Internet marketing research company providing marketing data and services to many of the Internet's largest businesses. comScore tracks all internet data on its surveyed computers in order to study online behavior....
says monthly video streams reached 903 million in January 2010, over three times the figure for a year earlier, and second only to YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.
Hulu Plus, a monthly subscription service, was launched in beta (preview) on June 29, 2010 and officially launched on November 17, 2010. Like the free version of Hulu, the video available on Hulu Plus also contains commercials. However, it offers subscribers an expanded content library in the form of full seasons and more episodes of shows already available through Hulu. Hulu Plus is available on a wide range of platforms, including:
- Blu-ray players (network-enabled)
- TiVoTiVoTiVo is a digital video recorder developed and marketed by TiVo, Inc. and introduced in 1999. TiVo provides an on-screen guide of scheduled broadcast programming television programs, whose features include "Season Pass" schedules which record every new episode of a series, and "WishList"...
DVR boxes (Premiere, Premiere XL, and Premiere Elite models) - Televisions (network-enabled Smart TVSmart TVSmart TV, which is also sometimes referred to as "Connected TV" or "Hybrid TV", , is the phrase used to describe the current trend of integration of the internet and Web 2.0 features into modern television sets and set-top boxes, as well as the technological convergence between computers and these...
s) - Smartphones
- WiiWiiThe Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
and Nintendo 3DSNintendo 3DSThe is a portable game console produced by Nintendo. The autostereoscopic device is able to project stereoscopic 3D effects without the use of 3D glasses or any additional accessories. The Nintendo 3DS features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS series software, including Nintendo DSi software...
(By December), PlayStation 3PlayStation 3The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
, and Xbox 360Xbox 360The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
game consoles - RokuRokuRoku , is an American, privately held, consumer electronics company that sells home digital media products. The Company is based in Saratoga, California.- Company profile and products :...
Streaming Player - WD TVWD TVThe WD TV is a consumer device produced by Western Digital that plays videos, images, and music from USB drives. It can play high-definition video through an HDMI port, and standard video through composite video cables. It can play most common video and audio formats.-WD TV :In November 2008...
Media Player
As of January 17 2011, Hulu has streamed its own in-house web series The Morning After
The Morning After (web series)
The Morning After is a Hulu original web series that premiered on January 17, 2011. It is produced by Hulu and Jace Hall's HDFilms, streaming Monday through Friday...
, a light-hearted pop-culture news show. It is produced by Hulu in conjunction with Jace Hall's
Jace Hall
Jason "Jace" Hall is an American film, television and video game producer, best known for being founder and Chief Executive Officer of Monolith Productions Inc and President of...
HDFilms and stars Brian Kimmet and Ginger Gonzaga. Producing the show is a first for the company, which in the past has been primarily a content distributor.
Hulu has been identified as a possible candidate for an IPO by 2013. On August 16, 2010, a report revealed that Hulu is planning an Initial Public Offering
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
(IPO) which could value the U.S. video viewing site at more than $2 billion.
On June 21, 2011, The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
reported that an "unsolicited offer" caused Hulu to begin "weighing whether to sell itself."
Starting August 15, 2011, viewers of content from Fox and related networks will have to authenticate whether they subscribe to a paid cable or satellite service wherever Fox streams episodes, including Hulu, to be able to watch them the morning after the first airing. Non-subscribers will see those episodes delayed a week before they are viewable.
On October 13, 2011, Hulu and its owners have announced that they will not sell the popular video site after all. None of the bidders offered an amount that was satisfactory to its owners.
On October 28, 2011, Hulu announced that they had inked a five-year deal with The CW, giving the streaming site access to next-day content from five of the six major networks.
Features
Hulu distributes video both on its own website and syndicates its hosting to other sites, and allows users to embed Hulu clips on their websites. In addition to NBC, ABC and Fox programs and movies, Hulu carries shows from other networks such as Current TVCurrent TV
Current TV, or Current, is a media company led by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and businessman Joel Hyatt. Comcast owns a ten percent stake of Current's parent company, Current Media LLC....
, PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
, USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
, Bravo, Fuel TV
Fuel TV
Fuel TV is a U.S. cable and satellite specialty channel that launched on July 1, 2003. It focuses on the cultures of such extreme sports as skateboarding, snowboarding, wakeboarding, motocross, surfing, BMX and FMX. It is a unit of Fox Cable Networks and is currently available to 26-million...
, FX, NFL Network
NFL Network
NFL Network is an American television specialty channel owned and operated by the National Football League . It was launched November 4, 2003, only eight months after the league's 32 team owners voted unanimously to approve its formation...
, Speed, Big Ten Network, Syfy
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
, Style
Style Network
The Style Network is an American cable television network based in Los Angeles.Owned by NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of General Electric and Comcast, its sister channels include E! Entertainment Television, USA Network, Syfy, G4, Golf Channel, and Versus, among others.-Network Overview:Style's...
, Sundance, E!
E!
E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by NBCUniversal. It features entertainment-related programming, reality television, feature films and occasionally series and specials unrelated to the entertainment industry.E! has an audience reach of...
, G4
G4 (TV channel)
G4, also known as G4 TV, is an American cable- and satellite-television channel originally geared primarily toward young adult viewers, originally based on the world of video games...
, Versus
Versus (TV channel)
Versus is a sports-oriented cable television channel in the United States. It was previously known as Outdoor Life Network and was launched on July 1, 1995, focusing on fishing, hunting, and other outdoor sports...
, A&E
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
, Oxygen
Oxygen (TV channel)
Oxygen is an American cable television specialty channel with television programming marketed towards women, with a format similar to Lifetime.- History :...
and online comedy sources such as Onion News Network
Onion News Network
Onion News Network is a parody television news show. The show premiered its ten-episode first season on January 21, 2011, at 10:00 p.m. EST on IFC....
. Each supplier gets 50 to 70 percent of advertising revenue resulting from its content.
In November 2009, Hulu also began to establish partnerships with record labels to host music videos and concert performances on the site, including EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
in November 2009, and Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
in December 2009.
In early March 2010, headlines were made when Viacom
Viacom
Viacom Inc. , short for "Video & Audio Communications", is an American media conglomerate with interests primarily in, but not limited to, cinema and cable television...
announced that they were pulling two of the website's most popular shows, The Daily Show
The Daily Show
The Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...
and The Colbert Report, off Hulu. The programs had been airing on Hulu since late 2008. A spokesman for Viacom noted: "In the current economic model, there is not that much in it for us to continue at this time. If they can get to the point where the monetization model is better, then we may go back." In February 2011, both shows were made available for streaming on Hulu once again.
Hulu on TV
Since Hulu's inception, consumers have been able to watch Hulu on their TVs by simply connecting a computer with a streaming capable video cardVideo card
A video card, Graphics Card, or Graphics adapter is an expansion card which generates output images to a display. Most video cards offer various functions such as accelerated rendering of 3D scenes and 2D graphics, MPEG-2/MPEG-4 decoding, TV output, or the ability to connect multiple monitors...
to the TV via HDMI
HDMI
HDMI is a compact audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed digital data. It is a digital alternative to consumer analog standards, such as radio frequency coaxial cable, composite video, S-Video, SCART, component video, D-Terminal, or VGA...
or other connection
Audio and video interfaces and connectors
The existence of many different audio and video standards necessitates the definition of hardware interfaces, which define the physical characteristics of the connections between electrical equipment. This includes the types and numbers of wires required along with the strength and frequency of the...
. Additionally, the Hulu Plus service, fully launched in November 2010, allows first-party access to Hulu from a variety of Blu-Ray linked TVs, integrated into Internet-connected televisions, iOS devices, gaming consoles, and set-top boxes.
In late June 2010, it was announced that a version of Hulu would be available to the iTunes App Store for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch running iOS4 or higher. Viewing the content on Hulu, however, requires a subscription.
On November 2010, Orb Networks announced the Orb TV box which streams Hulu on the TV for free when used in conjunction with a computer and a smartphone.
Hulu Desktop (Windows, Mac, and Linux)
Hulu has released a beta version of Hulu Desktop, a standalone program for watching Hulu programming without a web browser. The program uses a 10-foot user interface10-foot user interface
In computing a 10-foot user interface is a software GUI designed for display on a large television with interaction using a regular television-style remote control."10 foot" refers to the fact that the GUI's...
and is designed to be compatible with existing computer remote controls. It requires a Flash player and runs on Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, and Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
. Hulu Desktop does not currently support all content accessed through normal browser means.
The latest version of the software was released on February 10, 2011, bringing the version number to 0.9.14. The new version includes both bug fixes and also support for the new Hulu Plus subscription service.
Hulu on Tablets
Hulu Plus, the monthly subscription package, unlocks the iPad application that allows streaming of some, but not all Hulu content from Wi-Fi and Wireless data networks via a dedicated iPad app.Hulu on Smartphones
Hulu Plus, the monthly subscription package, unlocks the iPhone and iPod application that allows streaming all Hulu content from Wi-Fi and Wireless data networks via a dedicated app users may download freely. Hulu Plus is also available on the Android platform.Networks and channels
- FoxFox Broadcasting CompanyFox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
: FOX, FX, Fox News, Fox Business - NBC UniversalNBC UniversalNBCUniversal Media, LLC is a media and entertainment company engaged in the production and marketing of entertainment, news, and information products and services to a global customer base...
: NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, Syfy, Oxygen - The Walt Disney CompanyThe Walt Disney CompanyThe Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
: ABC, ABC Family - The Biography ChannelThe Biography ChannelThe Biography Channel is an American digital cable television channel owned by A&E and based on the television series of the same name. A version of the channel also airs on ONO and Telefónica in Spain and on Sky Digital and cable television in the United Kingdom, a version of the channel also...
- MTV NetworksMTV NetworksMTV Networks is a division of media conglomerate Viacom that oversees the operations of many television channels and Internet brands, including the original MTV channel in the United States...
: MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, TV Land, Spike, NickelodeonNickelodeon (TV channel)Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers... - National Geographic ChannelNational Geographic ChannelNational Geographic Channel, also commercially abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo, is a subscription television channel that airs non-fiction television programs produced by the National Geographic Society. Like History and the Discovery Channel, the channel features documentaries with factual...
- Comedy CentralComedy CentralComedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
Producers and distributors
- NBCUniversal
- LionsgateLions Gate EntertainmentLions Gate Entertainment Corporation is a North American entertainment company. The company was formed in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1997, and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California...
- EndemolEndemolEndemol is an international television production and distribution company based in the Netherlands, with subsidiaries and joint ventures in 23 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Poland,...
- MGMMetro-Goldwyn-MayerMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
- American Broadcasting CompanyAmerican Broadcasting CompanyThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
- News CorporationNews CorporationNews Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
- ViacomViacomViacom Inc. , short for "Video & Audio Communications", is an American media conglomerate with interests primarily in, but not limited to, cinema and cable television...
- Public Broadcasting ServicePublic Broadcasting ServiceThe Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
- Sony Pictures
- Time WarnerTime WarnerTime Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
On August 17, 2011, Hulu debuted its first long-form original production entitled, A Day in the Life.
Availability
Currently, Hulu's content is only available in the United States and Japan with licensing reasons cited. However, many Internet users are able to get around Hulu's geo-location block using proxy services such as UnoTelly. Hulu was planning on launching in the U.K.United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
in September 2009, but as of April 2010 these had been abandoned for the foreseeable future after failure to sign any content deals. In July 2010, the Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
revealed that Hulu had been working on plans for an international launch of Hulu Plus for several months, and had identified the UK and Japan as markets where its free website and subscription model could feasibly work. Hulu chief executive Jason Kilar expressed his belief that the US model could be replicated elsewhere, saying "We won't be satisfied until this is a global service." Hulu's first expansion into an international market took place with the launching of service in Japan on September 1, 2011. Japanese users will have access to a library of popular television shows such as the CSI franchise, Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty, and Prison Break, as well as movies such as Pirates of the Caribbean, Men in Black and Armageddon. In the near future, it will also add local content from Japan as well as entertainment from other Asian regions.
As of February 2009, Hulu has pulled its content from CBS Corp.'s TV.com
TV.com
TV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...
, and from Boxee
BOXEE
Boxee is a cross-platform freeware HTPC software application with a 10-foot user interface and social networking features designed for the living-room TV...
, a software firm that makes Internet video suitable for viewing on a large screen, like a television connected to a PC. However, Hulu worked with PlayOn
MediaMall Technologies
MediaMall Technologies, Inc. is an American software company based in New York, Seattle and Copenhagen. MediaMall develops software that enables networked entertainment devices, such as networked HDTV's, networked set-top-boxes and DMA's, and networked game consoles, to view Internet-based content...
, which when combined with an Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
, PS3, or certain other devices would allow playback of Hulu content on a TV. Also, Boxee produced a workaround for Hulu support.
Additionally, not all content is available indefinitely. Full episodes of television shows rotate which are available, showing anywhere from 1 to 10 of the latest episodes, depending on the show. New episodes of T.V shows belonging to FOX aren't released to basic hulu members until the next episode is released. Certain movies are also featured on the site and available for viewing on a rotating basis. Once a full episode or movie has rotated off of the website, users can subscribe to Hulu+ (premium subscription) to view episodes from all seasons.
Hulu is not available in Singapore largely due to xinmsn.com and all the people have now been downloading Korean, Japanese and Chinese shows, including movies. People download shows into 'A.C. Ryan', 'Western Digital' or specific downloads.
External links
—Hulu.com site—Hulu Japanese site- "With Hulu, Older Audiences Lead the Way", The Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....