Gawker
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trade roundup
Baywatch Boobs On the Big Screen!
News from the internet as it relates to TV, a rising comedy star ponders his many options, a new HBO show could be a disaster or could be great, and a Baywatch movie makes us cranky. More » -
advertising
Bing Will Annoy You Into Submission
Microsoft's new search-dealie "Bing" is going up against The Google, which is hard! Fortunately, Bing's marketing wizards have devised the world's most annoying ways to promote it. (*Bing* sound)! More »
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Comment by Kid Twist: Microsoft has a history of annoying marketing startegies and devices. Like that goddamn paperclip from a few years ago. 2 Responses | Other threads
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injustices
Enjoy Your Free Hulu While You Still Can
Why does everything good have to come to an end? Sigh. According to Jeff Bercovici of Daily Finance, Hulu is poised to start charging people subscription fees to watch video on the site. More »
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Comment by Almostbanned: If it's less than $5/month (and it should be), then I don't have a problem with it. Life isn't free,... 11 Responses | Other threads
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TV Wars
Mickey Mouse Assimilated By Hulu Aliens
The extraterrestrials at Hulu have staged another coup in their bid to take over television. Disney has struck up a deal with the online video site, meaning we get ABC shows now. More » -
the internet
YouTube's Sad Studio Deal Just Highlights Hulu's Superiority
In the war between video sites, Hulu might have the Daily Show, 30 Rock and 24, but YouTube just signed big studio deals to bring you... Harper's Island and The Addams Family. Oh, Google. More »
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By Ryan TateComment by Peter Strauss: Seriously would these companies mind bringing their videos to anywhere outside of the States? There IS a whole world outside... 11 Responses | Other threads
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disasters
Time Warner Cable To Lose Comedy Central, MTV In Viacom Spat
From New York to Los Angeles, Viacom channels like Comedy Central are set to flicker off cable systems in the first minute of 2009. Sumner Redstone's desperation finally impacted your life! More »
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By Ryan TateComment by SpacePope: Okay, Comedy Central is a loss. But MTV lost the last shred of music on that channel in, what,... 4 Responses | Other threads
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online video
Report: Sarah Palin destroying Web video
We've uncovered what's really killing the online-advertising business: Sarah Palin! Or rather, the lack thereof. Traffic at Hulu, NBC's YouTube wannabe, tumbled in November without the Web's favorite hot lady governor and VP candidate.
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By Owen ThomasComment by Catherine Helzerman: Palin was made for reality TV. Her family is a walking soap opera. I'm still waiting for cliff... more » | Other threads
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great moments in pr
Hulu wants me to tell you they're catching up with YouTube
You've never heard of media analyst company Screen Digest. Keep that in mind when you stumble upon a few dozen news reports today that claim "Hulu ... a smaller upstart backed by News Corporation and NBC Universal ... is forecast to draw level with Google’s YouTube in US advertising revenues next year." Any reporter who reads that sentence in the Financial Times instantly wonders, "forecast by who?" By the Financial Times? By Hulu executives? No, by Screen Digest. Take that as you will.
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By Paul BoutinComment by IsadoraBear: Paul, you're welcome to call me anytime and I'll show you our credentials, our client lists, and explain our methodology.... more » | Other threads
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online advertising
Hulu's surprising lesson
Jason Kilar, the CEO of online-video site Hulu, has rediscovered a truism: less is more. Hulu, which is mostly owned by NBC and News Corp., runs fewer ads on the TV clips it licenses from its TV-network parents than they air when they broadcast the same shows. And yet the ads are more effective. This could simply be a novelty effect; everything about Hulu is new, so the ads also draw more notice. But Hulu may be onto something. Why don't networks try running fewer ads on air, too? (Photo via Alarm:Clock)
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By Owen ThomasComment by marcsiry: I'm not sure this story follows VW style guidelines- aren't you supposed to use at least one vaguely insulting descriptor... 2 Responses | Other threads
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saturday night live
Who Still Watches Saturday Night Live... Live?
The name should perhaps be changed to Saturday Night Streamed, suggests the Times' Brian Stelter, and he kinda has a point: The most memorable SNL sketches of the season were likely seen by more people online than on broadcast television. Tina Fey's debut impersonation of Sarah Palin was viewed 14 million times on Hulu.com, compared with 10 million people estimated to have seen it on TV. Numbers for her follow-up impersonation were similarly lopsided. We love the way NBC has used Hulu, but the whole thing looks like a trap. More »
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By Ryan TateComment by American Dreamer: Its wednesday morning here in espoo! just wanting to wish all my amerikan friends the very best on their big... 6 Responses | Other threads
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things we actually like
30 Rock Season Premiere Available Right Here, Right Now
Oh happy day! 30 Rock, Tina Fey's funniest-show-on-TV backstage screwball fest, isn't scheduled to premiere until next week. But, because sometimes the internet is a wondrous and giving technodiety, the season opener is now available on Hulu! (Thank you New York Observer, for pointing this out to us!) Now some of you delayed-gratification crazies out there may want to wait until next week, but I say poo to that. If the bowl's in front of you, you gotta smoke it. So we've embedded the episode after the jump. Enjoy. Nick, I'm... um, taking lunch. More »
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Comment by jfk1624: Ugh, Hulu--bring your joy to Canada PLEASE. (This is so unfair.) 4 Responses | Other threads
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online video
Joost will let you relive the '90s with "Friends"
BoomTown's Kara Swisher paused in making ribald jokes about Joost's London office to report that the online-video purveyor will be offering six full seasons of NBC's former hit Friends. With this, Joost will reach an audience who prefers New York City when there's no black people, just like in dated sitcoms and Woody Allen movies. But I digress. NBC-backed Hulu only offers snippets of Friends episodes. Joost isn't exactly going to take off with syndicated reruns you can watch on dozens of cable channels. For those of you desperate to relive Ross and Rachel, the site will relaunch in mid-October — no plugin required.
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By Jackson WestComment by sample032: Remind me again, was season 6 before or after the cute guy became a prescription drug addict and got fat? 1 Responses | Other threads
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online video
To promote TV shows, NBC turns to Hulu
What's the best way to get people who don't watch TV to start watching it? For starters, advertising TV shows somewhere other than on TV. Give NBC this much credit: The network, which has seen better days in the ratings, hopes to attract viewers by releasing fall season premieres on Hulu a week ahead of their television air date. More »
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By Jackson WestComment by jetblack: I guess I'm the only person eagerly anticipating the new season of Knight Rider. I like what I like.... more » | Other threads
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online video
Hulu sneaks up on YouTube's ad market
Nielsen stats show NBC's Hulu video site has only 2 percent of YouTube's traffic. But there's a twist: Hulu runs ads on everything. YouTube, by contrast, can sell ads on less than 3 percent of its video trove. Moreover, Hulu seems to land more big-ad-budget consumer brands like Dove. Watch enough Hulu, and the ads seem pretty close to what you'll catch on cable. Maybe that's why they aggravate my elitist nerves. I'd still rather pay a few bucks a month to watch all my online vids without interruptions. Yes, I'd pay for YouTube. Is it really just me?
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By Paul BoutinComment by WagCurious: @Alaska Miller: Yessiree there is one! [panelpicker.sxsw.com] look for "How To Get A Fat Check From YouTube". Remember to vote... more » | Other threads
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downtime
Hulu widgets let you watch TV while pretending to use Internet
Finally a widget I can get behind: TV and movie site Hulu has built a set of highly configurable widgets that can preview or even play full episodes in the middle of a Web page. Now if only they'd carry the entire Season 4 backlog of Battlestar Galactica.
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By Paul BoutinComment by WagCurious: Let me save you the time Paul... the Battlestar finds earth, but it's been devastated by war. Did not see... more » | Other threads
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hulu
Free Porn Is Media Giants' Online "Game Changer"
When NBC Universal jumped into bed with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. to launch YouTube-competitor Hulu, you just knew things were going to get tawdry. Murdoch, after all, has shrewdly and repeatedly exploited the draw of sexual content, at UK newspaper The Sun (with its page three girls), on TV network Fox and elsewhere. And so perhaps it should have been clear from the get-go what Murdoch's number two Peter Chernin was wrong when he declared that Hulu was going to be "a game changer for Internet video... for the first time, consumers will get what they want." Actually, Hulu is bootstrapping itself the same way the entire rest of the internet did: via porn! More »
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By Ryan TateComment by Migrant Blogger: Yeah, it will be a game-changer. Mainstream media will follow porn into "non-profit" land. more » | Other threads
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online video
Vogue's new reality show hopes to bedazzle the Internet
Every print publisher, and especially the glossies, want in on the online-video game. Unlike the text-and-photos Web, where there are more pageviews than media buyers know what to do with, there's not enough slickly packaged content that big brands deem safe enough to advertise themselves on. Condé Nast's Vogue has a new reality show for the Web, Model.Live, which "tracks three models as they navigate casting calls, catwalks and airports for fashion weeks in New York, London, Milan and Paris." It debuts August 19. What you won't see? Drinking and smoking. What you will see? Eating disorders confronted "head-on." That's because this an attempt to reach out to a younger demographic on behalf of the sponsor, aspirational mall brand Express — which sells American women the sequined, screen-printed jeans they love. What's all this going to cost Express? More »
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By Jackson WestComment by WagCurious: This is actually an IMGWorld production made for Condé Nast. Now if either Brian Weiss or Jim Gallagher at IMG... more » | Other threads
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online video
Throwing good money after bad: $6 billion in VC for video sites
$6 billion has been invested by venture capital firms into American online video sites since 2005. And that's against only one real payday, Google's $1.65 billion purchase of YouTube, which has only garnered revenue in the low eight figures. True, advertisers spent $17 billion at the television upfronts, as Silicon Alley Insider's Michael Leamonth points out, giving an idea of the potential market that's being chased. More »
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By Jackson WestComment by newtonke: For online video, product placement seems to be the key from an advertising perspective. For video bloggers, there is a... more » | Other threads
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online video
YouTube moves to counter Hulu by offering full-length movies and shows
Mark Cuban says Hulu is kicking ass because of a simple marketing device: The NBC and News Corp.-backed site is advertising full-length programs on YouTube to get traffic to shows on which they can sell real advertising. YouTube, rather than ban Hulu, is now angling to keep that traffic in-house by allowing partners to upload shows up to 1 gigabyte in size, enough room for full-length film and television programming (though not at great quality). More »
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By Jackson WestComment by Hey_mikey: @WagCurious: SAG is dreaming if they think that vbloggers are going to pay union dues. Not that it might not... more » | Other threads
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online video
Mark Cuban: "Hulu is kicking YouTube's ass"
Two years ago, Mark Cuban wrote: "Would Google be crazy to buy YouTube? No doubt about it. Moronic would be an understatement of a lifetime." Since then, Google did buy it — for $1.65 billion — and the site's become so popular its actually the Web's third most popular search engine all on its own. Does that mean Cuban has changed his mind? No, no, it does not. The reason is Hulu, Cuban explains in 802 words, which we've edited down to 100, below. More »
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Comment by SandHillSnobbery: No one would know about getting his ass kicked more than Cuban! The guy has been getting his ass kicked... more » | Other threads
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hulu
Hulu Represents Triumph of Rupert Murdoch Over The People
Hulu — the NBC-Universal/Fox owned video website that is not so different from the numerous other websites offering full episodes of television shows, is the subject of a fawning, incredulous profile in today's Los Angeles Times. While all of the major networks already offer the bulk of their primetime line-ups for free online, Hulu boldly puts a bunch of it together on one site, thereby saving precious seconds of web surfing time. In an embarrassing display of old media-ness, reporter Scott Collins rhapsodizes over Hulu's "special features." More » -
confirmed
Hulu lands Viacom's Colbert and Stewart
Now showing on NBC Universal and News Corp. Web video joint venture Hulu: the Daily Show's Jon Stewart and the Colbert Report's Stephen Colbert from Comedy Central. Viacom, which owns the Comedy Central network, has long hinted it might join Hulu — we heard rumors the deal was done in March — but until now had only announced agreements with Joost, the failing Internet video company founded by Skype founders Nikolas Zennstrom and Janus Friis. More »
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Comment by Tiki Tonga: So in boxing terms, is this a knockout punch to Joost, or merely a jab? Maybe a one-two punch?... more » | Other threads
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stats
ABC tops online, with CBS a comer
ABC has the most popular television network website, just a shade more popular than NBC.com among the six broadcasters sampled by HitWise. But both websites are down in their relative share of the online audience, while CBS has greatly increased visits. Why? Well, for starters, CBS is ahead in the year-to-date ratings race for actual television. The top draws to the network sites are, once again, competitions and other game shows — American Idol was the top draw for Fox, Deal or No Deal for NBC and Dancing With the Stars for ABC. Almost every site, however, kept users on longer, with the average user spending three more minutes on CBS. Only visits to NBC got shorter, probably because some users are going to Hulu to watch full episodes of shows like The Office and 30 Rock
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By Jackson WestComment by dumanue: If only ABC had a good player, their web player sucks, as it actually STOP after an ad is played... more » | Other threads
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copyfight
Redlasso hires former CBS CEO to avoid lawsuit
Michael Jordan, former CEO of CBS, has been tapped by Redlasso as an advisor, presumably to glad-hand the TV companies which sent the company a cease and desist letter last week. The startup has cobbled together a fair-use defense; the Electronic Frontier Foundation told Valleywag they're watching the case but declined to weigh in. But if Redlasso were going to fight the networks in court, it would have hired lawyers, not a dealmaker like Jordan. The company has been in talks with the networks for years. So what went wrong? Hulu. More »
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By Jackson WestComment by raincoaster: And Hulu is unavailable in many of the finest countries in the world, including my own. Although I enjoy many... more » | Other threads
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online video
Joost's last, best hope nixed by Adobe
The latest iteration of Joost, the once-hot, now decidedly not video startup from the people who brought you Skype, will work in your browser — but only if you download a plugin from Joost. And while Joost struggles to find good content, Adobe is rolling file sharing into its Flash player, beating Joost's new plugin to the punch. NBC has worked with file-sharing content delivery platforms in the past, and Hulu — a site backed with quality content — uses Flash. I'm sure the Joost developers are tech whizzes, but even our journalist math puts them on the wrong side of this equation. (Photo by Job D.)
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By Jackson WestComment by reality.check: goes to show, no one wants to download/install a standalone. everything is browser based. joost never got it. may be... more » | Other threads
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online advertising
Why does Madison Avenue have to beg its way into Web videos?
Hulu, the Web-video venture of NBC Universal and News Corp., reached nearly 900,000 visitors last month, according to Compete. Too bad that its 15-second ads and spots spliced into the middle of videos aren't where ad agencies want to spend their clients' money. They want to spend it the way LonelyGirl15's backers do — on product placements. "Just placing ads like prerolls are not a big interest to us, frankly," Digitas EVP Carl Fremont told Silicon Alley Insider. "That's just taking the old TV model and adapting it to a new screen. We would rather work with a producer and develop custom content." Which, of course, is the even older TV model — the one that led Procter & Gamble to invent the soap opera.
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Comment by bitpakkit: But the products are already in millions of videos. All we needed was a way to find them and... more » | Other threads
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online video
NBC Direct still doesn't work
Liz Gannes, a veteran online video reporter whom I've worked with and is no slouch when it comes to getting almost any newfangled content application to function, couldn't get NBC's relaunched video-on-demand software to work. The offering is powered by a file-sharing download process from Pando, but not much good if users can't even install the software. Isn't there a company that already has a delivery and payment system for 720p video content from the networks — one that NBC used to work with? Meanwhile, to get your 30 Rock fix online, Gannes says stick with Hulu. Just looking at the listed bugs on the download page would be enough to scare off anyone who's confused by file-sharing sites.
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By Jackson WestComment by WagCurious: NBC are you listening? Here is the problem with your installer. You are testing for a DRM individualization level before... more » | Other threads
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online video
Hulu nabs Diggnation and other Revision3 shows
Hulu, the online video site created as a joint venture between NBC and News Corp., will distribute shows from content startup Revision3, which focuses on shows broadly related to technology. Now you can easily switch between WWE wrestling matches and watching Alex Albrecht and Kevin Rose getting drunk without having to turn off your laptop. [Silicon Alley Insider]
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By Jackson WestComment by xint: I've been watching Kevin Rose get drunk ever since The Broken... ...I'm not particularly proud of myself, just stating a fact. LOL!! more » | Other threads
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bring back simon & simon
The Hulu Mystery
Just yesterday, the single most popular episode of any of the fantastical tv shows available for on-demand viewing at Hulu was some utterly random selection from a forgotten '80s detective show called Simon and Simon. And today, it's gone. Just like that. WE DEMAND ANSWERS, NBC/UNIVERSAL (AND FOX). [Hulu, Previously]
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By PareeneComment by raincoaster: I don't really care what you post. It's Hulu and I won't be able to read or share it with... more » | Other threads
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simon & simon
The Most Popular Show on Hulu
We were at Hulu doing some important research for a post when we noticed this. And now we need someone to explain it. Apparently, the most-viewed episode of anything ever on the popular video site—more popular than all the Family Guy, 30 Rock, Office, and Simpsons episodes they offer—is some random episode of the utterly forgotten '80s detective show Simon & Simon. No other episode from that classic Gerald McRaney vehicle appears in the first five pages of results organized by popularity. Seriously, why is this the most popular thing on Hulu? Why? On a site where you can watch all of Arrested Development! [Hulu] More » -
kill your tv
Nerd Alert
OMG Babylon 5—the Battlestar Galactica of the mid-90s, back when getting all obsessed with cheesy space-opera was, for me, still age-appropriate—is on Hulu. C'mon guys, Quantum Leap next! [Hulu] -
clips
Kara Swisher calls Hulu lead developer a 12 year old because, well, he looks like one
Here's the highlight from Kara Swisher's a tour of the Hulu offices. Hulu CEO Kilar takes Swisher into a group of cubicles reserved for developers. Hulu, Kilar says, was developed "between here and Beijing." Then Kilar walks over to a desk where what seems to be a child sits. "I want to introduce you to a little-known secret," Kilar says. How cute, Kilar wants to introduce Swisher to his kid. "Eden, take your earpieces out," Kilar tells the boy, before pulling them out of the boy's ears himself. The kid turns around and Kilar begins to explain that ""This guy coded—" but Swisher interrupts. "Oh, hello 12 year old, hello." Kilar: "He's legal. Over 21." The kid: "Barely."
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Comment by andyfox1979: what an obnoxious prick that tourguide is. If he pulled my earbuds out I would've hadoukened his ass. more » | Other threads
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online video
Friday Night Lights will continue, but available on torrent sites months before Hulu
Critically acclaimed but chronically low-rated jock opera Friday Night Lights managed to sneak in a third season thanks to a unique deal between NBC Universal and DirecTV. But the network has built an interesting window into the release — the episodes will premiere on DirecTV's "The 101" channel in October, but not air in prime time until February. The episodes also won't be available on Hulu until NBC airs them next year, which makes no sense at all. More »
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By Jackson WestComment by Big John: BT wins again, silly peacock tv is for kids! more » | Other threads
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online video
Hulu CEO Jason Kilar mum on Janet Jackson nipple-slip question
When asked whether he'd post a Web clip featuring Janet Jackson's 2004 Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction, where Justin Timberlake yanked off more of her top than the two half-time performers say they'd planned to, Hulu CEO Jason Kilar deflected I Want Media's question as "theoretical.... I don't want to go there." But the site shows R-rated movies and asks users to confirm their age before showing the racier (and gorier) stuff. Kilar himself has played up the Hulu feature that lets viewers pick particular clips to search on and embed in their blogs. Which leads us to wonder: Is Hulu's target YouTube's audience, or Mr. Skin's? (Photo by AP/Ron Wurzer)
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By Jackson WestComment by Magister: Hey! Be nice! I like having the option of watching R-rated content on Hulu and I'd really hate to lose... more » | Other threads
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hulu
My 10 Favorite Things On Hulu (For The Time Being)
Hulu, the video on demand website that could just change the way we watch everything, is, honestly, starting out pretty well. It has full episodes and clips from over 300 NBC and Fox titles (and some movies, too) with a much cleaner format than YouTube. While some of what's on there has already been defined as internet hipster zeitgeist programming (30 Rock, Friday Night Lights), there is also some delightfully random stuff, like episodes of St. Elsewhere, the medical drama that's responsible for Howie Mandel, and Exosquad, that weird kids cartoon where people actually died. Chairman Denton had me rummage around the site for a bit, trying to find my top ten favorites. Honestly, with as much Simpsons and 30 Rock stuff as they have, it's sort of impossible. But I've managed to compile a reasonable sampling of what this odd and varied possible murderer of television has to offer. They lie, not in any particular order, after the jump. Beware that some of them are long and embedding is not working for some reason, so they're just links. Sigh. More »
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Comment by KarenUhOh: Jane Pauley was never American. She was debris from a meteorite. more » | Other threads
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online advertising
Hulu CEO Jason Kilar says the site will soon allow users to pick the ads theywanthave to watch. If Ford buys ads for an SNL episode, for example, viewers will be able to select mind-numbing ads about Mustangs or SUVs. Viewers will also have theSophie's choiceoption to select to watch one long commercial, likely a movie trailer, instead of several short ones. [paidContent] More » -
online video
Hulu videos open to all, with Time Warner and Viacom waiting in wings
Tomorrow, Hulu will finally open its doors to the wider public. Rumor has it Time Warner and Viacom soon plan to join the site, which is backed by NBC and News Corp., through nonexclusive distribution deals. CBS digital guru Quincy Smith, however, remains pessimistic: "If the Web is just another way to watch TV, I think I'm going to slit my wrists." Below, the best friend of former Yahoo CEO Terry Semel's daughter in the kind of short form clip Hulu hopes the public will take to. More »
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Comment by Randall: How bout this... the web works till something more grand gets invented. I'm curious to see how hulu lives in... more » | Other threads
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online video
Beam me up! CBS.com streams full episodes of "Star Trek"
When I was a lot younger, I taped — onto VHS! — all of the original Star Trek episodes when they aired at 3 a.m. on Friday nights, so I could watch them later. If only I had waited 13 years. CBS has put all three seasons of Star Trek online for anyone to view, along with a number of other old shows to the Audience Network, including The Twilight Zone, Hawaii Five-O and MacGyver. More »
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Comment by OaklandTechie: @Magister: I won't be happy until Remington Steel is available somewhere. more » | Other threads
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nbc
NBC will stream old TV shows on NBC.com, just like already does through Hulu. And through NBC Direct. And on the box in your living room. [SAI] -
online video
Yahoo Video relaunches, and hints at video on Flickr
Yahoo Video has soft-launched a new website, in a move which speaks to both the potential of Yahoo and the company's utter disorganization. It has all the necessaries in the age of YouTube and Hulu: clips created by amateurs and professionals, playlists, and "exclusive" content. The latter, if true, is refreshing: Thanks to syndication deals which allow the endless regurgitation of video from site to site, most of the Hollywood-born clips on the Web are numbingly similar. The site also has a tantalizing promise: Video on Flickr. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by snidleywhiplash: Flickr was a natural to become Yahoo's YouTube, but once they got merged into Yahoo, the inevitable creative paralysis set... more » | Other threads
hulu
New York, 6:46 PM
Sat Jul 11
16 posts in the last 24 hours
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