HULU

By Chris Hattery

Who doesn’t like watching TV?  Do you like watching your favorite shows exactly when you want to?  Do you want to save some money by skipping out on paying for a DVR or cable altogether?  With Hulu (hulu.com), the second largest video provider on the internet, you can get all this and more.  Of course there is a little headache that goes along with it.  Commercials.  They make the world go around, and Hulu seems to balance advertisers versus the limited attention span of an internet user very well.  Comparable to the time it takes you to fast forward through the recorded commercials on you DVR, Hulu introduces each episode with a short 15-30 second commercial.  What’s more, they offer loads of streaming video from their website and you don’t have to pay a cent for it.  YET!

You are now the program manager for your entire evening of entertainment.  Want to watch Dexter, then The Toxic Avenger?  You can now to it with ease.  And its all free for everyone with an internet connection.

There are talks from Hulu HQ that they need to start making more money from the service.  All that bandwidth isn’t free you know.  They initially received $100 million in financing from Providence Equity Partners to get the service underway.  It sounds like they should just start charging more for their advertising and keeping their hands out of my pocket.  Because I like free.  In fact most people on the internet like free.  And charging for the service will create a problem most big networks were seeking to end; Piracy.  Internet message boards buzzing with talks of Hulu have one basic message: If you charge for Hulu then we’ll go back to downloading these shows illegally and you won’t make a dime off of us.  It’s rapidly becoming a consumer’s world.

Big television networks like ABC, NBC and Fox have begun partnering with Hulu to bring their shows to you.  It’s taking the TV, which creates couch potatoes, and producing more of an interactive experience where you can leave comments on your favorite episodes and have a ‘voice’ related to the shows you watch.  Hulu does allow you to set up playlists and, much like a DVR, you can subscribe to shows that are automatically added to your playlist so you won’t miss the next episode of LOST, Family Guy or The Office.

All this can easily be hooked into your home television too.  So next time you decide to flip on the old boob tube rember channel surfing can be a little more efficient when it comes to the internet.  Anyway you manage to harness Hulu, it is worth it.

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