- Share This Post
- submit
- 4
-
Sparkle (0)
YouTube has a slick, new competitor on it's hands and it's name is Hulu. Hulu is the new video website where you can watch classic and current TV shows and movies. Hulu was the brain child of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. and NBC Universal.
Though the lineup of programming is still somewhat thin, partly because it's primarily chock full of Fox and NBC programming, that will change as other big networks and movie studios jump on board. And believe me, they will jump because I predict viewers are going to flock to the site. As soon as viewers get a look at the clean, easy to use interface and the absolutely gorgeous quality of the programming, the site's going to be a hit.
Personally, I got a big kick out of surfing the TV shows available on Hulu. Programs as recent as the pilot for "The Return Of Jezebel James," to classic shows like "Hill Street Blues," "Fantasy Island," "Hart to Hart" and one of my personal favorites, St. Elsewhere. They're all yours to watch for the price of one fifteen second commercial that's even shown with a countdown clock.
Movies run the gamut from the Ashton Kutcher gem, "Dude, Where's My Car" to the Russell Crowe blockbuster,
There are also things called Funnysodes, comedy clips and standups. I didn't find them very funny, but you can find a bit better comedy watching the latest "Saturday Night Live" sketches, like Tracy Morgan's "Black Is The New President."
Or musings on Eliot Spitzer's latest career choice.
Hulu's website describes itself this way:
Hulu's ambitious and never-ending mission is to help you find and enjoy the world's premium content when, where and how you want it. We hope to provide you with the web's most comprehensive selection from more than 50 content providers including FOX, NBC, MGM, Sony Pictures Television, Warner Bros., Lionsgate, and more to deliver premium programming across all genres and formats, television shows, feature films, and clips.
And just like on YouTube and other online video sites, you can embed Hulu videos on your own blog or website.
Hulu comes along at an interesting time, because just last month there was a study by Nielsen Online about the online video viewing habits of men and women.
An article by Mike Sachoff on WebProNews.com reported on the study:
Women are almost twice as likely as men to watch online video on TV network Web sites, while on user- generated sites such as YouTube, men 18 to 34 were more than twice as likely as women in the same age group to watch videos.
Over at Mashable, Kristen Nicole wrote an article, "Men Are From YouTube, Women Are From FOX? She had this observation:
Typical. That’s because boys have a shorter attention span and don’t like the episodic drama we females need to catch up on online before the new episodes come out later on in the evening.
What that means is, a woman is more likely to watch "Desperate Housewives" or "Lost" on ABC.com, while guys are more likely to watch "How To Make A Water Gun Alarm Clock" or "YouTube MadLibs on YouTube.
So although a lot of the content on Hulu so far, especially the movies, tends to skew toward the male persuasion, if that Nielsen study is accurate, with it's growing vault of classic TV shows, Hulu will especially be a hit with the ladies.
Dara at Digital Herstory likes Hulu because:
Today while I browsed, I noticed I could watch Sideways — the full length, broadcast quality video. That’s enough to make me visit again.
Shauna at Shauna Rumbling found something new:
They have old classics like Jeannie and Bewitched, and some I've never heard of, including something called Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot.
Kara Swisher at All Things Digital says:
Finally, someone in Hollywood has realized that ubiquitous
distribution, which is being driven by consumers’ desire to move their
media anywhere they want, whenever they want, is the future.
To shine itself up for new U.S.-only users, Hulu is adding more
premium content, including about 100 full-length movies and also upping
its television offerings to 250 full-length episodes.
Over at The Pop Culture Diet one
