Difference between revisions of "Hulu"

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Hulu's logo

Hulu is an ad-supported online video service that offers on-demand streaming content including popular TV shows, movies, and other clips from many networks including FOX, ABC, and NBC. The company's ownership is shared by The Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal, News Corporation, Providence Equity Partners, and the Hulu team^[1]. It started its subscription-based service in 2007. Hulu also provides a premium service for customers called Hulu Plus, which provides more content on additional devices for $7.99 a month. Hulu's headquarters are located in Los Angeles, California.

History

Hulu, literally meaning "gourd" or "interactive recording" in Mandarin, was founded in March of 2007 in partnership with AOL, Comcast, MSN, MySpace, and Yahoo. It started with an invitation-based beta testing only available in the U.S. Jason Hilar was appointed CEO in 2007. In 2007, Hulu won "Best Video Startup" at the 2007 Crunchies, an event sponsored by TechCrunch, GigaOm, and VentureBeat^[2]. On March 12th, 2008, Hulu opened its services to the U.S. public, starting with over 250 T.V. shows and 100 movies from FOX, NBC, and their affiliated channels^[3]. In late 2008, Hulu added a "Discussions" tab underneath the video player that allows users to engage in discussion.

Hulu's revenue form 2008-2011

In 2008, The Walt Disney Company became an equity owner of Hulu, adding many of Disney's most popular content including shows like Lost, Grey's Anatomy, and Desperate Housewives^[4]. In 2011, the Hulu Plus app was created for Android smart phones, originally for the Nexus One, Nexus S, HTC Inspire 4G, Motorola Droid II, Motorola Droid X, and the Motorola Atrix. By the end of the year, Hulu was available on over 200 million devices including Microsoft's Xbox 360, smart phones, and tablets such as the Barnes and Noble's NOOK tablet and Amazon's Kindle Fire. Hulu launched in Japan in late 2011, giving users access to shows on four devices for one monthly price.

Hulu launched Hulu AdZone, presented by Toyota, which offered all of the Super Bowl ads from 1973 to the most recent one^[5]. On April 17th, 2012, Hulu announced a "100% Completion Rate" deal with advertisers using their services, not charging them unless their advertisements had been streamed until they were finished^[6]. On September 10th, 2012, Hulu Plus became available on the Playstation 3, thus being available on all three major gaming platforms: the Sony Playstation 3, Microsoft's Xbox360, and the Nintendo Wii. As of 2011, Hulu Plus has 1.5 million subscribers, making it the fastest video subscription service to reach that number in U.S. history. In 2012, Hulu added its own original programming, including the Hulu original sitcom, "Battlefield," which premiered in February ^[7].

Advertising

Hulu's Adswap allows users to pick the commercial they want to watch

In 2011, Hulu generated the highest number of video ads in the U.S. at 963 million ads viewed^[8]. Time spent watching video ads totaled to 409 million minutes. Hulu asks people whether the ads they are viewing are appropriate for them. When a negative answer is given, the ad is swapped with another ^[9]. In 2010, Hulu reported that it avged $0.143 in revenue from ads per episode^[10].

Features

Hulu provides streaming content in Flash Video format in 288p, 360pm, 480p, and for some videos, 720p HD.

Hulu Plus

Hulu Plus on the iPad

Hulu plus is a monthly subscription service that now has over 2 million customers. It launched its beta on June 29th, 2010 and officially launched to the public on November 17, 2010. Contrary to popular belief, Hulu plus still has the same commercials as normal Hulu, but has a wider library of content for users to view. It has full seasons and more episodes of shows that Hulu does not provide. Hulu Plus also unlocks the Hulu app for iOS and Android on smart phones and tablets.

Hulu Desktop

Hulu has introduced a beta version of Hulu Desktop, a free application that provides Hulu content using a PC or Mac remote and does not require the use of a web browser. No account is needed to use Hulu Desktop, and all of the same content will be available as online. It is available on Windows, Mac, and Linux PCs^[11].

Hulu Publisher Tools

Hulu Publisher Tools, designed for bloggers and webmasters, makes it easy to embed Hulu content into articles and blog posts. It also serves as a directory of the most relevant and popular videos on Hulu at any time^[12].

Availability

Currently, Hulu is only available in the United States and Japan ^[13]. Exclusive deals having digital rights of many T.V. shows from the U.S. makes Hulu going global difficult. However, Kilar has said "We Won't be satisfied until this is a global service" ^[14]. Hulu's latest step in achieving this goal was making a deal with FremantleMedia Enterprises to distribute its original shows outside the U.S. ^[15].

Content

Hulu is partnered with hundreds of different studios. Some prominent ones include: ^[16]

Hulu's original series, Battleground, starring Jay Hayden, Terri Reeves, and Jack DeSana

• ABC
• BBC
• CNBC
• Comedy Central
• Food Network
• Fox
• MTV
• NBC
• PBS
• Spike
• Warner Bros

Hulu Original Series include:

• The Morning After
• A Day in the Life
• Battleground
• Spoilers
• Up To Speed

See Also

• Media Content
• Services
• Websites

References

1. ↑ http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/hulu_llc/index.html,
2. ↑ http://techcrunch.com/2008/01/18/2007-crunchies-the-winners/
3. ↑ http://www.wired.com/entertainment/theweb/magazine/16-10/mf_hulu?currentPage=all
4. ↑ http://www.businessinsider.com/disney-joins-hulu-2009-4
5. ↑ http://www.webpronews.com/relive-super-bowl-commercial-history-with-hulus-adzone-2012-01
6. ↑ http://mashable.com/2012/04/17/hulu-advertisers-100-percent-ad/
7. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/17/business/media/hulu-the-online-tv-site-adds-original-programming.html?ref=hulullc
8. ↑ http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2011/8/comScore_Releases_July_2011_U.S._Online_Video_Rankings
9. ↑ http://www.dmnews.com/hulu-revamps-ad-pricing-model/article/236837/
10. ↑ http://gigaom.com/video/hulu-defends-ad-split/
11. ↑ http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2350008,00.asp
12. ↑ http://www.socaltech.com/hulu_launches_publishing_tool__linux_support/s-0024490.html
13. ↑ http://www.hulu.com/support/article/171122
14. ↑ http://www.digitalspy.com/tech/news/a240992/hulu-puts-uk-launch-back-on-agenda.html
15. ↑ http://www.fremantlemedia.com/news/news-detail/12-03-12/FremantleMedia_Enterprises_Signs_Global_First_Look_Deal_for_Hulu_Original_Programming.aspx
16. ↑ http://www.hulu.com/partners