July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

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Microsoft’s Windows Phone team has something to celebrate today: Another top-tier app has hit their platform.

Hulu has released the Windows Phone 8 version of its app, and it’s a good-looking one.

“Our team has been focused on creating a beautiful and comprehensive Hulu Plus experience that is optimized for Windows Phone 8,” somebody from Hulu’s marketing department wrote on the company’s blog. “The app leverages Windows design principles that lend themselves elegantly to the rich content catalog and features on Hulu Plus.”

And indeed, the provided screenshots make it clear that Hulu on Windows Phone promises to be a clean, easy-to-use experience, with no chrome or skeuomorphic nonsense coming between you and the videos you want to watch.

It integrates nicely with your Hulu account, so, Hulu suggests, if you fell asleep watching Community last night in bed, you can catch up on the bus ride to work.

I’d test it out, but I no longer have a Windows Phone. If you want to try it yourself, the new Windows Phone Hulu app is free, but you will need a Hulu Plus subscription, which costs $8 per month.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

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While Hulu’s owners are still being wishy-washy on whether they want to sell the company or keep it, the service itself is doing quite well.

The company announced today that it has surpassed 4 million paid subscribers of its Hulu Plus service, which lets you watch content on mobile devices and set-top boxes and gives you access to plenty of content that’s not available to those with a free account. This quarter also saw the fastest rate of subscriber growth, with nearly a million people signing up between January and March. The company’s acting CEO, Andy Forssell, also said the overall paid subscribers doubled in 2012 from its roughly 2 million subscribers the same time last year.

And people are apparently watching more videos, too. Hulu revealed that in the last quarter over 1 billion hours of content were viewed. (For comparison, Netflix is seeing over a billion hours of videos streamed per month.)

The company also saw record growth in people watching from mobile devices, which Hulu estimates will account for 15 percent of all viewing over the next year, while viewing from set-top boxes and smart TVs will be 29 percent.

As for advertising, Hulu said its viewers tend to stick around for 45 minutes per session without skipping advertisements. And for the record, I do believe Hulu on this front because it’s currently a huge pain in the ass to employ an ad blocking tool while viewing Hulu on the Web. You can do it, but you still have to sit through the endless pause of nothingness where a commercial would be, which is oftentimes longer than the actual commercial would have been. (And in some cases the video won’t even load.) Citing comScore data, Hulu also said it delivers 1 out of every 3 premium video ads in the U.S. I’m guessing “premium ads” means anything  you’d reasonably be able to watch during regular television viewing on broadcast or cable networks.

Hulu also highlighted its commitment to producing more original content, which is extremely crucial for the company looking ahead. If Hulu were to be bought by a new company that wasn’t in the business of producing content, that could put a serious strain on Hulu’s future ability to remain profitable while providing programming people want to see. (Music services are currently struggling with this.)

Anyway, Hulu’s upcoming slate of original shows includes half-hour western comedy Quick Draw, East Los High, The Awesomes, Behind the Mask, The Wrong Mans, and Mother Up!, as well as new seasons of  Pramface, Prisoners of War, The Only Way is Essex, Braquo, and Moone Boy.

This sponsored post is produced by StackSocial.

As the weather gets better and the nights get shorter, we all remain as busy as ever. That means we’ve got even more to balance in our busy lives, and we have to include watching our favorite shows into that mix as well.

Hulu.com has been a big help throughout the year for many of us, allowing us to watch our favourite content when we want on our computers. But what if you could add a whole other layer to your Hulu experience – one that gives you unlimited streaming on a myriad of devices, with access to entire seasons of your favorite series…and all in high-definition? That’s what Hulu Plus delivers.

Hulu Plus gives you even more control over your entertainment options – and VentureBeat has a deal that will help you take control of your entertainment with one month of Hulu Plus for absolutely free!

Hulu Plus also gives you access to exclusive content you can’t see anywhere else, along with the ability to watch shows produced by WWE, Miramax, UniVision, The Criterion Collection, and more – additional content that you can’t view on the standard version of Hulu. And you’ll get all of that content – plus the standard Hulu content – in HD.

With Hulu Plus, your shows go where you go. You’re no longer tethered to your computer to watch the shows you love. Hulu Plus can be used on a variety of mobile devices (for a full list of supported devices, click here), meaning that no matter where you are you can keep up with your favorite series. or watch that movie you’ve been waiting to see.

Regularly priced at $7.99 per month, we’re offering you well beyond the usual one week free trial. With this offer, you’ll get to try Hulu Plus for 1 month, absolutely free! (To see all important reminders surrounding this offer, including redemption requirements, visit our VB Store.)

So what are you waiting for? This offer won’t last long. Get one month of Hulu Plus for free by visiting the VB Store and get unlimited instant streaming TV shows and movies today!

If you decide to steal someone’s smart TV or smartphone, you’d think disconnecting all the accounts on it would be a smart first thing to do. Well, an alleged thief in Raleigh, N.C. wasn’t that bright and let a Netflix account lead police to his doorstep.

A Raleigh detective had already been investigating a string of car break-ins and many items that had been taken from those vehicles. But the case really heated up when a man whose smart TV had been stolen on Jan. 22 notified the police after his connected Netflix account was used by another person. Many smart TVs let you login to services like Netflix or Hulu Plus to easily watch content from the web.

The police showed up to the house of the man who unwittingly used the Netflix account. That person said he had purchased the stolen TV from someone else, and started naming people associated with the purchase. This led the police to eventually arrest 36-year-old Tchannen Hall, search his house, and charge him with three drug offenses and for stealing goods.

Hall’s house contained several TVs, eight GPS units, 34 watches, 17 power tools, and other items from assorted robberies.

Who knew a Netflix account could be so dangerous?

Via the Raleigh News & Observer

Illustration by Tom Cheredar/VentureBeat

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

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After more than six months of neglect, Hulu’s design team has finally started paying some attention to its Apple TV app.

The original Hulu app for the device was welcomed with open arms by Apple TV owners, who patiently watched as nearly ever other set-top box gained access. That said, the old app was sort of boring and wasn’t very useful if you were just looking for something random to watch on the service. I’m not exactly sure how much of it can be blamed on Hulu, as the company was rumored to have gone through a lengthy approval process before being granted entrance to the device.

The latest update, however, brings a brand news user interface to the app that really opens up Hulu’s library of content. The old side bar navigation was replaced with a menu bar at the top that simplifies all the major categories of content (hot, TV, movies, Latino, Queue, etc.). The design team also replaced the side scrolling thumbnails of TV shows that occupied half of the screen (similar to how Apple displays album artwork while you’re browsing your music library on the device). Now, you’ll see a horizontal carousel of TV shows that changes automatically, which is similar to what you’d see on Hulu’s desktop website homepage. Also like the homepage are horizontal categories of shows, episodes, and clips.

The show pages have also been redesigned to make much more sense for people accessing Hulu via television. The left side of the screen features a thumbnail of the current episode along with a summarized description. It is worth noting that the episode description text is way too small, and pretty much be useless for anyone with a smaller screen and/or someone watching TV from across the room. On the other side is a list of episodes for a single season, complete with the length of each episode and thumbnails. It’s a nice change of pace from the old version of the app.

The Hulu app update also has some other nice additional functionality to help you get what you want quicker — or in other words, the developers take care not to waste your time. For instance, clicking the play button on a thumbnail will automatically play the most current episode of that TV show. You can also toggle on subtitles using the remote, thus eliminating another thing that would otherwise interrupt your viewing experience.

You’ll still need to pay the $8 per month for Hulu Plus to gain access to the new app, but if you’re a heavy Hulu user you probably already are. And in that case, the latest Apple TV update should make you very happy.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

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Tablets and smartphone are often heralded as more efficient forms of technology,unless your kids are using them to watch R-rated movies or anything containing naked bodies unbeknownst to you.

Well, Hulu has come up with a solution of sorts in the latest update to their Hulu Plus iOS app, which features a new “Kids Lock” mode. Much like it sounds, the new mode will prevent children from searching through the seedier side of Hulu Plus. They can still watch hours of annoying episodes of SpongeBob Squarepants or the new awesomely revamped Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. [Note: this is also useful if you have ultra-serious, hipster roommates who hate cartoons, but constantly steal your tablet to watch The New Girl while fawning over Zoe Deschanel.]

To enable the Kids Mode, all you have to do is click a lock button along the top navigation bar of the screen. To get out of the child-friendly mode, all you have to do is click the button again and enter your account password.

The new Kids Lock feature should go live the next time you update the iOS app on the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. Although, to watch anything on the app, you still need to have an $8 per month Hulu Plus subscription.

Via Engadget

Nintendo TVii is finally coming to your living room and the Wii U tomorrow, the company announced, but it won’t arrive with all the features originally promised.

Nintendo announced TVii earlier this year as a service that would integrate all television content and Wii U apps, such as Hulu Plus, Amazon, and Netflix. Wii U owners could then use TVii as a hub for selecting viewing content whether it’s coming through live television or a streaming service. At least, that was the plan. The application didn’t make its expected launch alongside the Wii U.

When it arrives tomorrow, TVii will allow users to find content such as sporting events or movies and tap an icon on their GamePad to view the content. It works with their cable provider or satellite service and also offers social features like content sharing on Twitter, Facebook, and Nintendo’s Miiverse.

However, as website Polygon pointed out, some of the features that Nintendo announced with the service won’t be available tomorrow. TVii won’t be able to access DVR content, and it won’t have TiVo programming support. Those should be available next year. Netflix won’t be available directly through TVii, either. For now, users will have to launch the Wii U’s built-in Netflix app to view its content.

Nintendo’s Wii U is one of a host of devices angling to be your new all-in-one media center. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3 deliver many similar services, as do many other devices like Roku.

Well, at least Nintendo kept that December promise.

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

Hulu’s “evil” plot to destroy the world and turn your brain to mushy mush is working — at least in part.

The streaming video company grew revenue by 65 percent year-over-year and will bring home about $695 million in revenue for 2012, CEO Jason Kilar wrote in a blog post Monday morning. Better still, Hulu’s premium offering, Hulu Plus, doubled its subscriber base and will finish 2012 with more than 3 million paying customers. Competitor Netflix has 30 million streaming subscribers.

The uptick in revenue and customers is likely the result of the company’s push to get Hulu Plus on more devices and its fulfilled commitment to add more content.

This year, Hulu launched Hulu Plus for Apple TV, Nintendo Wii and Wii U, and Windows 8 tablets. Hulu Plus, Kilar said, can now be accessed on 320 million Internet connected devices in the U.S., a figure that doesn’t include PCs. Hulu, as promised, also spent more than $500 million on content deals in 2012 and increased its selection of titles by 40 percent.

“At Hulu, we are doubly fortunate in that we are at the crest of two massive waves that we believe will persist for the long term: the rise of online video advertising and the rise of online video subscription services,” Kilar said.

So, just say yes to the mushy mush — the mushy-mush status report, that is. Hulu has done an okay job adding screens, bringing in fresh content for all ages, creating original series, signing additional advertisers, and attracting subscribers. But at what cost?

After subtracting content acquisition costs, Hulu made about $200 million this year. Then, there’s the undisclosed sum that Hulu spends on customer acquisition. The company often runs elaborate, celebrity-endorsed ads, and even ran a 2012 Super Bowl spot (embedded below) featuring Will Arnett that cost around $3.5 million just to broadcast. That $700 million revenue figure is sounding less impressive by the minute.

Plus, 2013 could be a problematic year for the five-year-old brand. Kilar is rumored to be on his way out the door and the service seems ready to adopt a tweaked model that would make it a less attractive destination for online viewers.

Photo credit: lhuga/Flickr

Hulu has released an app for the Wii U that ties the game console’s handheld screen to the big one on your TV in an interesting way.

With Hulu Plus for the Wii U, you can navigate through the video service’s many shows using a combination of information on the big screen and further details on the little one, aka the WiiPad. For instance, you can flip through thumbnails representing each show on the big-screen browser; as you select each one, further details on the show pop up on the screen on the handheld controller.

While you’re watching a show, the little screen shows playback controls, a menu of the video’s available chapters, and other options.

In what I’d like to call “bathroom mode,” you can switch video playback to the small screen. That’s handy if you’re, um, moving about the house. (Even more handy given the WiiPad controller’s surprisingly long wireless range.)

Hulu Plus joins Netflix, which has been available since the game console’s launch two days ago, as one of the Wii U’s entertainment options. (It also has a host of Nintendo-provided online forums and other amusements.) Nintendo is clearly trying to make the Wii U into a hub for all your media and entertainment needs, not just video games, so this is a step in the right direction. Read our review of the Wii U for more.

Hulu’s service for the Wii U free, but — just like Hulu’s other device-specific apps, such as Hulu for the regular Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox, iPhone, iPad, Android phones, Nintendo DS, and Roku — you will need to be a Hulu Plus subscriber. That costs $8 per month.

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

Hulu Plus will be among the multitude of new apps available when Windows 8 launches Oct. 26, the streaming video service announced today.

Hulu’s new Windows 8 app, which is already available in the Windows store, gives you access to the full breadth of its content library, meaning the backlog of older shows as well as the newly premiered TV shows from the broadcast television networks. However, to use the app, you’ll need to be subscribed to the $8 per month Hulu Plus premium service.

The new app was designed for use on both desktop computers and touch screen devices. And from what I’ve seen in Hulu’s demo video, it’s also got some features that are unique to the OS, such as pinning a particular show to the Windows 8 home screen and letting you watch videos using only half your screen.

The Hulu app will also come preloaded on Windows 8 tablets from Acer and Sony. Check out a preview in the demo video below.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

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Hulu has rolled out a brand new version of its Hulu Plus app for PlayStation 3 owners, the company announced today.

The PS3 Hulu app, which initially launched two years ago, provides the streaming video service’s brand new “living room” viewing experience. Hopefully, that means less clicking through navigation and more quality viewing time.

Similar to Hulu’s recent website redesign, the PS3 Hulu Plus app arranges videos in specific “trays” that are based on your favorite shows, your viewing history, and the most popular content across the site. The overall navigation seems much cleaner like the company’s new online presence, with enhancements to choosing episodes of a show and seeing where you left off within each video. The app update also includes simplified video controls and new search functionality.

The updated Hulu Plus app is available now via PlayStation’s “TV/Video Services.” But just like with other versions of the app, you do need an $8 monthly subscription to view any of the content.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

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Apple rolled out a software update for its Apple TV set-top box today that includes a new app for Hulu.

Apple TV owners have been waiting forever for Hulu service to land on the device. Previously, rumors indicated that a Hulu Plus app existed but hadn’t been approved by Apple. Some speculated that this was because a Hulu service would threaten Apple’s TV show sales via iTunes. And with OS X Mountain Lion’s new Mac Airplay feature, there’s really no reason not to put Hulu on the Apple TV.

To access Hulu content, users will need to have a subscription to the premium $7.99 monthly Hulu Plus service. However, Hulu is offering a free trial subscription (1-week of service) to all Apple TV owners. Hulu users should also note that not all content within their queue will be accessible via the Apple TV app, as many programs have web-only streaming licenses. (See photos of the new app in the gallery below.)

The more interesting thing about the new app is that it will allow you to sign up for Hulu Plus directly through Apple TV. Apple TV will use your iTunes account to process the payments. This is the same arrangement Netflix (and I’m assuming other subscription-based content channels) has with Apple.

It’s likely that Apple takes a cut of every subscription that’s paid for through a person’s iTunes account, but we don’t know the exact percentage of that commission fee. This detail is probably why it took so long for Apple to bring Hulu Plus to the Apple TV. If you take into account the possible loss from TV show purchases on iTunes as well as a dismal commission fee from bringing on new subscribers, it makes sense that Apple hesitated in bringing Hulu to its set-top box. If true, it could explain why Apple isn’t in any rush to bring additional streaming video services to the Apple TV.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

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After gaining over 2 million paying subscribers of its Hulu Plus premium subscription service, Hulu is ready for its next big challenge — evolving into the first true internet-based premium television network.

“If we’re really on our game, people will look back on it and will say, ‘Wow, I can’t believe TV was like that in 2007,’ ” Hulu CEO Jason Kilar said during the AdAge digital advertising industry event in New York City this week.

To give you some background, Hulu offers limited access to ad-supported prime time TV show on its website. It’s Hulu Plus subscription service runs users $8 per month for access to a larger library of exclusive content as well as the ability to watch programming on several different devices. Hulu gets about 38 million monthly visitors, according to comScore. and reported $420 in revenue for 2011 (up 60 percent from the previous year). Next year, the company expects half of its revenue to come from Hulu Plus subscriptions alone.

Now, the company is ready to stop relying solely on content from the big broadcast and cable networks (Fox, NBC, ABC, CW, Viacom, and others) to draw in viewers. Instead, Hulu wants to produce its own slate of original programing, and has licensed 13 original TV shows that will appear exclusively online. Some of the original shows on Hulu include scripted comedy Battleground, Morgan Spurlock’s A Day in the Life reality series, and unscripted travel show Up to Speed from acclaimed director Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused, Slackers) this summer.

As the New York Times points out, Hulu is pitching advertisers on those new shows, much in the same way traditional TV networks do each season.

And speaking of advertising, Hulu is also making some big changes to boost results. Hulu is already leading the pack in terms of video ads shown. In February the company ran 1.5 billion video ads, compared with Google’s 1.2 billion, according to comScore.

Along with the milestone Hulu Plus subscribers announcement, Hulu also reveal that it was revising its advertising strategy so that advertisers are only charged when a commercial (video ad) is viewed to completion. So for instance, if I close the browser window in the middle of a commercial break for Community, Hulu doesn’t charge for that ad. This “100% Completion Rate” guarantee is something that Hulu probably wouldn’t even consider if it wasn’t confident that the majority of its commercials are actually finished. However, the new strategy may  provide just enough incentive to grab more big-name advertisers who prefer to spend their ad budget on regular TV alone.

Hulu’s potential setbacks

Despite massive growth to its overall user base, paying subscriptions, and advertising revenue, Hulu still faces plenty of challenges that could potentially derail its forward momentum.

All of Hulu’s content as ad-supported, which means users may be more inclined to watch older episodes of a TV show on ad-free streaming services like Amazon’s Prime Video or Netflix. And in terms of original programming, Hulu is entering a battle with Google-owned video site YouTube, which has committed to spending upwards of $100 million to boost its library of premium original shows. YouTube’s efforts have swallowed up internet-centric web shows like Felicia Day’s The Guild, The Onion News Network, and others.

But for Hulu, it’s not likely that the company will be able to allocate anything close to $100 million to jump-start its original programming line up. Hulu’s owners — NBCUniversal/Comcast, Fox/News Corp., ABC/Disney –  are some of the biggest broadcast TV stations in the country, which limits what Hulu can do in terms of growth and strategy. In the past, Hulu’s parent companies haven’t really seen eye-to-eye on how to grow the streaming video service, which nearly lead to them selling off Hulu.

“The bulk of our business is working with those big media companies, and they’re going to make choices based on how they see the whole ecosystem evolving,” Hulu SVP of Content Andy Forssell told the NY Times.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

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Streaming video service Hulu has finally launched its Hulu Plus app on a handful of tablets that run Android OS, the company announced today on its blog.

The app is available for free in the Google Play store, but users must subscribe to Hulu’s premium Plus service to watch anything. The Hulu Plus subscription costs $7.99 per month and gives you access to recent TV shows from four of the five big networks (ABC, Fox, NBC, and CW). You’ll also be able to watch (most) content on a variety of supported devices, such as set-top boxes, smart TVs, and tablets.

Hulu Plus has already been available on Apple’s iOS devices for some time.

Initially, Hulu is offering the service for just seven Android tablets: Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime, Asus Eee Pad Transformer, Motorola Xoom, Motorola XYBoard 10.1, Toshiba Thrive, Acer Iconia and LG G-Slate. Noticeably absent is Samsung’s line of Galaxy tablets, which accounts for a large portion of the overall Android tablet consumer market. But fear not, avid VentureBeat reader, Hulu said this is just the beginning of its Android app rollout. (My guess is that the Nexus tabs will be the next to get support.)

The app itself comes with a shiny new user interface that’s far more functional than its iPad counterpart. It’s a lot like the UI from Netflix’s tablet applications.

At the top of the screen is a familiar slideshow of the most recently featured programs. Just below that is a navigation bar for the type of videos (TV, Movies, Clips, etc.). Videos aren’t “clumped” together like they are in the iPad app. Instead, users are given horizontal rows of videos that are arranged by a specific behavior or action, such as recently watched shows, recommended videos, popular clips, etc (see image below). Show pages also get the same horizontal rows treatment, as you can see in the image above.

Let us know what you think of the new app in the comments.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

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In the early days of television and radio, some companies paid nearly the entire production cost as an experimental form of advertising (e.g. Ralphie’s decoder message from A Christmas Story). When it comes to the growing world of original web series, the same is also true.

Such is the case with big insurance company Hiscox, which is attempting to gain the attention of the small online business crowd by producing an original web series. Today, the company announced that it had ordered a second season of Leap Year, a half-hour web show comedy about (what else) five friends running tech startup C3D. It’s first season garnered over five million views across multiple streaming video channels.

The show isn’t exactly an amateur effort either. Hiscox is collaborating with CJP Digital Media and Happy Little Guillotine Films on the show, which will feature plenty of established actors like Steven Weber (Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip), Emma Caulfield (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), and Craig Bierko (The Three Stooges) as well as Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, Randi Zuckerberg, Zaarly CEO Bo Fishback, and What’s Trending Host Shira Lazar. The show also name checks plenty of others in the tech investment world, including TechStars founder David Cohen and others.

Filming for the new season of Leap Year Begins next week, with episodes due out this summer on Hulu and Hulu Plus.

Projects like Leap Year are bound to sprout up more frequently going forward. And will all the attention surrounding tech startups as the future innovators of television, it makes perfect sense to target this type of crowd first. Check out the trailer recap for the first season below and let us know what you think. Is this as good as (or better) than the laugh-track prime time sitcoms on the major networks?

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

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Nintendo’s Wii game console gained some significant ground as a streaming video set-top box with the announcement of a new Hulu Plus channel launching today.

While the Wii does have a channel that allows you to browse the internet, Hulu’s main website is unavailable as is also true for the majority of mobile devices and set-top box web browsers. The new Hulu channel fixes that, provided that you sign up for the $7.99 monthly premium Hulu Plus service. The service provides early access to current TV shows from major networks (ABC, Viacom, NBC, Fox, CW) as well as additional video content not available to free-Hulu users. Wii owners can sign up for a two-week free trial of Hulu Plus, which is similar to promotions Hulu offers to owners of other devices supporting the official Hulu Plus app.

Along with Netflix, Hulu Plus is the second major streaming video service available on the Wii. Having both of those services could make the game console more attractive to people who’ve been itching to buy an inexpensive set-top box. At $149, the Wii is less expensive than a Boxee Box ($199) and a bit more than an Apple TV ($99). However, neither of those aforementioned set-top boxes have a Hulu Plus channel yet, nor do they offer the vast selection of video games available on the Wii.

In addition to the Wii channel, Hulu is also scheduled to launch on Nintendo’s 3DS handheld game device later this year.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

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Streaming video service Hulu is adding a huge collection of PBS television shows to its content library, the company announced Thursday.

The new content is available with commercials to all Hulu users, while premium subscribers of Hulu Plus can watch it commercial-free. Some of the shows now available include Ken Burns library, the first season of Downton Abbey, NOVA, and American Experience, as well as children’s series including Arthur, Dinosaur Train and Wild Kratts. More shows are expected to debut in the future, according to Hulu.

The funny part about the new Hulu content is that it’s actually available for free on the Public Broadcasting Station’s official website, PBS.org — meaning you don’t have to pay a $9 monthly fee or sit through periodic commercial breaks.

But while a free, uninterrupted service is typically preferred, I see why adding the content would be beneficial to Hulu. First of all Hulu Plus has a strong subscriber base of 1.5 million paying customers, due in large part to its library of current premium television content from ABC, NBC, CW, and Fox. Being able to integrate PBS shows into the service makes it more convenient for people who’ve dropped their cable subscriptions and rely solely on the web for video entertainment.

I’m betting that Hulu is also paying PBS for streaming access to this content, which is always a good thing considering that PBS is a non-profit government-run organization that is severely under funded. (The company did confirm to VentureBeat that it has a licensing agreement in place with PBS, but didn’t elaborate on the details.)

[Downtown Abby image via PBS]

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

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Streaming video site Hulu is on the cusp of airing its first original series. Original programming will be an important part of the company’s agenda in the future, CEO Jason Kilar said at the D: Dive Into Media event in Dana Point, Calif. Tuesday.

Kilar expressed Hulu’s commitment to a “healthy differentiation” of its service from other video streaming services (Netflix was implied, but not named), in an on-stage interview with AllThingsD media editor Peter Kafka.

It’s important that Hulu deliver great content consumers can’t find elsewhere, he said, adding that the Comcast, Disney, and News Corporation-backed company can introduce original series without raising additional capital. “We want to tell great stories that aren’t being told right now,” he said. “It’s important to have some exclusive content.”

Kilar also talked about the value of Hulu’s more than 330 content partners and the early success of Hulu Plus, the company’s for-charge premium subscription offering. Hulu closed out 2011 with a strong subscriber base of 1.5 million paying customers.

Kilar said, as he has before, that Hulu’s business model, thanks to Hulu Plus revenue, allows it to pay the content community more per user, per month than anyone else in the industry. “It’s our fattest growing business, by far,” he said, claiming that the money paid out to content creators is “extremely generous.”

Hulu made $420 million in 2011, an impressive figure but one that fell $80 million short of a revenue projection it made for the year. Kilar attempted to clear up confusion around Hulu’s financials. The board plan for 2011 was initially $408 million, he said, but early in the year the company was on pace to hit $500 million in revenue. Then, he explained, the third quarter advertising market fell soft and the pace of ad sales slowed. Things rebounded in the fourth quarter, however, and Hulu is now off to a strong start to 2012.

Kilar also previously committed to spending $500 million on content in 2012, a promise he now indicates the company is intent on keeping. In January, Hulu revealed that it ordered 13 30-minute episodes of its first original series, the faux political documentary “Battleground.”

Of course, Yours Truly couldn’t let Kilar off the hook without asking about the company’s plans to release a Hulu Plus application for Apple TV. A 9to5Mac report from October purported that a Hulu Plus Apple TV app was feature ready but barred from release for political reasons. Kilar declined to comment on the status or existence of the secretive application, calling the question juicy and saying only that the company does not comment on its product plans.

Kilar also did a decent job of clarifying the intentions behind the company’s highly publicized quest for a buyer. Hulu, he said, was merely trying to be responsible to its shareholders and better understand its market value. Still, the four-year-old company remains heavily reliant on the whims of content providers and will continue to be until its original programming plan comes to fruition.

“The journey that we’re on is not for the faint of heart,” Kilar said.

[Image via AllThingsD]

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

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Hoping that content really is king in the battle for viewer attention, video streaming company Hulu has purchased its first original scripted series.

Hulu has ordered 13, 30-minute episodes of (somewhat ironically titled) “Battleground,” a faux documentary that follows the characters behind a fictional politician’s campaign for Senator.

“Battleground” episodes will beginning airing Tuesday, February 14, and episodes will include eight minutes of advertising, according to AdAge.

The site’s exclusive new offering is part of a $500 million new content promise Hulu CEO Jason Kilar made to viewers earlier in the week — and a chess-like response to Netflix. The series announcement, not coincidentally, coincides with Netflix’s first foray into the realm of original programming. The Hulu competitor will start streaming its original series “Lilyhammer” to subscribers come early February.

Hulu, a company that had an uncertain future just a few months ago, is also now talking about potentially raising funds to finance more original content deals. “We have a very healthy business,” chief content officer Andy Forssell said at the Television Critics’ Association Winter Press Tour Sunday. “When you have a healthy business, capital is not a problem. There are plenty of people who want to help.”

Hulu has also renewed its commitment to documentary series “A Day in the Life.” The company has ordered 10 new episodes of the show, according to Bloomberg.

Together, the two shows could help Hulu ramp up advertising sales and encourage more Hulu Plus paid-subscriber signups. Hulu continues to see healthy growth in revenue, new content and subscriber numbers, but it missed its 2011 revenue projection by $80 million.

The streaming video company, which specializes in providing online access to network television content, brought in $420 million in revenue in 2011, Kilar said in a blog post on the company’s 2011 performance.

The revenue figure is up 60 percent from 2010, though it is less than the $500 million revenue estimate projected back in September. Hulu also grew Hulu Plus, its all-you-can-eat $8 per month offering, to a subscriber base of 1.5 million paying customers.

“Hulu Plus has reached 1.5 million paid subscribers faster than any video subscription service launch (online or offline) in U.S. history,” Kilar claimed. “We expect our subscription services to account for more than half of Hulu’s overall business later this year.”

Kilar is so confident in Hulu’s business, and its ability to turn a profit with a dual ad-subscription revenue stream, that he said the company will spend roughly $500 million — $80 million more than it made in 2011 — on acquiring new content for the service in 2012.

How much does $500 million buy exactly? In the realm of digital content rights, not so much. Competitor Netflix is said to be paying $30 million for each DreamWorks picture it gets. Sure, that’s likely a much higher premium than Hulu is paying for say something like the rights to Community or CW content, but you get the idea.

And without getting a look at Hulu’s books, it’s difficult to know just how well Hulu is really doing. Yes, the business is growing, subscribers are signing up to pay monthly fees and its content library is expanding at a healthy rate — content grew by 40 percent versus 2010, Kilar said — but Hulu is in a risky business, and the company knows it. Lest we forget, it wasn’t that long ago when Hulu was ready to throw the baby out with the bath water.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

Hulu and Netflix are embroiled in a melee over digital content rights to the most popular TV shows. Friday, Hulu landed a blow by announcing that it is now the exclusive digital syndication partner for the Emmy award-winning television comedy series Community.

Hulu already carried Community, and Netflix didn’t. The exclusivity deal means that Netflix and other streaming-video rivals are now frozen out of this show.

Community is a B-list get for Hulu, and it’s certainly not going to bump up the site’s Hulu Plus subscription numbers. The subtext of the announcement, however, is important.

Essentially, Hulu is telling the industry that it can still obtain critical content deals and differentiate itself from the competition — which is, of course, Netflix. On the gradeschool playground, today’s news blurb would be akin to Hulu sticking out its tongue at Netflix and saying “neener-neener-neener.”

But a get is a get, especially when you consider Hulu’s new deal with the CW and the service’s new availability on Nintendo Wii and 3DS.

Hulu, which recently abandoned a quest for a buyer, is giving Hulu Plus subscribers next-day access to current season episodes, along with the entire back library of Community spanning all three seasons. Non-paying Hulu watchers can stream the five most recent episodes, as usual.

[Image via IMDb]

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

Despite an impending sale from its owners who no longer want it, Hulu continues to grow in popularity and revenues.

The streaming video service has reached a million paying customers, reports Reuters.

In June, Hulu CEO Jason Kilar said he anticipated that the company would reach the milestone number of a million paid subscribers by the end of the year. Now it seems that the service will far exceed those numbers.

Hulu offers a limited amount of free access to the videos on its website and a premium subscription service called Hulu Plus for $8 per month. Hulu Plus subscribers get access to a larger library of exclusive content as well as the ability to watch programming on several different devices, not just through a web browser.

The company first launched its Hulu Plus subscription service in November with exclusive content from joint owners News Corp, Walt Disney Co. and Comcast Corp’s NBC Universal. Hulu has since added new content from Viacom and movie studio Miramax and has launched a new version of the service in Japan.

Hulu plans to invest $375 million in content this year and reach revenue totals of about $500 million, according to the company’s second quarter progress report.

With its impressive subscriber growth and healthy revenue numbers, critics have questioned why Hulu’s owners are trying to sell the service to companies like Google, Amazon or DirecTV.

The sale, however, might not occur due to lower than anticipated bids for Hulu, which VentureBeat reported last week. Hulu’s owners could terminate the sale if the next round of bids don’t meet its expectations — which are around $2 billion, not including any special content licensing stipulations.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

Apple on Friday quietly removed its 99-cent TV show rentals from the iTunes Store.

The decision comes just days after CEO Steve Jobs resigned, signaling the company could be looking to simplify its product offerings or just showing off its willingness to cut less-successful product offerings.

Rentals had cost 99 cents per episode. Customers who want to watch TV episodes through iTunes and their iOS-enabled devices now only have the option purchase individual shows, which run $2 for the standard-def version or $3 for an HD episode.

Episode rentals were introduced last September when Apple announced its revamped $99 Apple TV device, which acts as a set top box to deliver content to TVs. The official Apple TV product page used to highlight TV rentals, but all mention of them have now been removed.

Apple has indicated that customers were not renting that many episodes, and usually opted to buy shows.

“iTunes customers have shown they overwhelmingly prefer buying TV shows,” Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr told AllThingsD. “iTunes in the Cloud lets customers download and watch their past TV purchases from their iOS devices, Apple TV, Mac or PC allowing them to enjoy their programming whenever and however they choose.”

Another reason customers likely weren’t renting many episodes from iTunes is because of services like Hulu and Netflix. Hulu has many current TV episodes free to watch, while its Hulu Plus service costs $7.99 for many full episode catalogs. Netflix costs $7.99 a month to stream as much TV and movies as you’d like, though its streaming collection is often lacking.

Rumors have also been swirling that Apple will manufacture its own television set that incorporates its iOS operating system, with a targeted release some time in 2012. The proposed device would be a tool for delivering new video technology.

Apple has also been rumored for some time to be interested in tailored television subscriptions. Getting rid of TV rentals works in tandem with this idea, but most likely the company wanted to exit because there was so little demand.

Did you ever use iTunes TV rentals? Are you surprised or disappointed that they’ve been discontinued?

For comparison, just 43 percent of Netflix viewers watch from PCs, and 36 percent watch from TV-connected video game consoles. Around 15 percent watch Netflix content on Internet-connected TVs and via Roku and TiVo.

In fact, on non-computer devices (excluding TVs that are hooked up to computers), Netflix customers access more content on a wider variety of devices than their counterparts on Hulu.

So what’s locking Hulu’s customers to their computer screens? If you want a short answer, it’s “Follow the money.”

According to Hulu’s wording in that brief boilerplate for its PC-only shows, it’s not Hulu’s fault that you can’t watch Bachelorette Ashely Herbert’s search for love on your Xbox; the buck stops with the networks.

Hulu is aiming for a goal of having all content available on all devices, but licensing is done on a show-by-show basis, and negotiation results can vary.

To understand how licensing screws up your ability to watch The Bachelorette via Roku while you can watch Doctor Who on any Netflix-compatible device in the universe, it helps to start with the differences between Hulu’s and Netflix’s business models.

Free, web-only content nets Hulu a lot of money from advertisers; Netflix’s business model is entirely different and doesn’t reply on web-only licensing.

Hulu’s non-paying viewers can only watch content on the web. Access from other devices is only available if you’re willing to pay for the privilege, and currently, fewer than one million Hulu viewers are.

But even for Hulu Plus subscribers (who pay $8 each month to get more shows on more devices), some of Hulu’s most popular content, including shows like The Bachelor/Bachelorette, Pretty Little Liars and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, isn’t available for viewing on non-PC devices.

As Hulu tells its users in the app, “We currently don’t have the rights to make this show available on TV or mobile devices.” That means no PS3 access, no Roku access — it’s just you, your laptop, Ashley and the bachelors on a lonely Tuesday night, unless you feel like whipping out your HDMI cable and plugging your computer into your TV.

This is where many Hulu Plus subscribers become frustrated. As one wrote in a recent blog comment, “To my dismay, after paying for 10 months, every one of my favorite shows is web-only. What am I paying for?”

The complaint is common enough that Hulu addresses it on its FAQ page, saying, “When we launched the free Hulu.com service, we obtained licensing to stream content directly to the PC and only to the PC. With the launch of the subscription-based Hulu Plus service, we had to start from scratch and acquire licensing to stream content on TVs, smartphones and tablets, as well as PCs… There are still some exceptions that we are working to resolve.”

Netflix, on the other hand, requires a subscription for all content and makes no restrictions about what kinds of devices can be used. So far, its subscriber base is around 25 times larger than Hulu’s. However, it doesn’t get any advertising money from big brands, so offering free content isn’t really a viable option, economically speaking. If Netflix offered free, web-only content, you’d likely be seeing less diversity in the devices used to access the service’s movies and shows.

So, given that Hulu makes money from subscriptions and ads on all Plus content, and given that networks could get more eyeballs for their shows if said shows were available on all devices (and could do so without losing revenue), what’s the hold-up with getting Hulu Plus shows on all supported devices?

In two words: Time and lawyers.

Hulu Plus has only been in existence for eight months, and the company is continually making new deals for distribution on new devices and distribution of new content. Currently, the service offers 2,000 TV series and 1,500 movies with access from around 100 devices. But getting the content licensed for the devices an ongoing process with networks and other content creators.

We wondered whether Hulu’s deals with NBC, ABC and Fox might not be a bit easier to negotiate (since these networks are Hulu’s owners as well as the creators of almost all the most popular TV shows on the service), but Hulu says there’s no distinction between making agreements with these three networks and other partners, which number more than 260 altogether. That makes sense, given that Hulu is getting ready to be sold, and it will need to have licensing agreements in place that are independent of whoever the company’s ultimate corporate parents are.

Why the networks are dragging their feet on a potentially universally beneficial move is anyone’s guess; we’ll be watching out for those renegotiated agreements and how they might affect Hulu Plus’ bottom line.

Image based on photo from williamhook.

“In terms of a ‘A to B’ comparison, we were surprised by how unsocial the Netflix users were,” said Mashwork founder Jared Feldman, who highlighted the large discrepancy between Netflix and Hulu’s total subscribers.

“Obviously [Hulu] is at a disadvantage because they’re late to the game, but Hulu has a social component the company is using to grow [its] subscribers,” Feldman said.

Mashwork filtered over 10,000 tweets mentioning people’s preferences regarding Netflix, Hulu Plus (Hulu’s paid service) and traditional cable services. The results revealed that 29 percent of the tweets preferred Netflix — 9 percent higher than the number of tweets preferring Hulu Plus. But considering how many more Netflix users there are, Feldman said he expected the percentage to be much higher over Hulu.

The data also indicated that many people have yet to try the Hulu Plus service, which means the company’s subscriptions could potentially grow much larger over time. Hulu itself is reporting higher than expected growth rates to its subscriptions, according to the company’s 2011 second quarter progress report.

Hulu recently relaunched Facebook integration that lets people comment on specific portions of a video using their Facebook account. The company’s first attempt at integration resulted in security breaches for some users, but the overall backlash was minimum.

“There is a lack of social media integration on Netflix. Obviously that’s a conscious effort the company has made for whatever reason,” Feldman said.

One reason Netflix isn’t as eager to add socialization features to its streaming service could be that its library of content consists entirely of licensed media from outside companies.

Hulu, on the other hand, has more of an ownership mentality, since three of the four partners that own the streaming service (Disney, Comcast and News Corp.) are media companies.

Below is an infographic displaying the results of the Twitter-data gathered by Mashwork. As the data shows, Hulu’s strong social media presence could make the company a serious video streaming service competitor in the future.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

Video-streaming site Hulu is very close to reaching a million paid subscribers, according to the company’s second quarter progress report published today.

Hulu offers a limited amount of free access to the videos on its website. For $8 per month, Hulu Plus subscribers get access to a larger library of exclusive content as well as the ability to watch programming on several different devices, not just through a web browser. The company has about 875,000 Hulu Plus subscribers, and that number rises to over a million if you include the number of free one-week trial subscribers, according to Hulu CEO Jason Kilar.

The number of subscriptions outpaced the company’s projections by a wide margin, according to Kilar. The company added more subscribers in June than it did during the previous two months combined. It expects to exceed a million paid subscribers by the end of this summer, rather than its original estimate of December 2011.

“We have always believed that our path towards creating a special company lay in our ability to delight our customers. The key to delighting content owners rests in the economics, and Hulu Plus is already revealing our ability to compensate content owners at the high-end of the market for a given body of content,” wrote Kilar on the company’s blog.

The majority of Hulu’s content library contains programming from its media partners/owners, which include Disney (ABC), News Corp. (Fox) and Comcast (NBC-Universal). Hulu recently reached new licensing agreements with each of its partners to continue streaming their exclusive TV content well into the future.

Such a move is a necessary step since all of Hulu’s owners are seeking to sell the company. News of Hulu’s continued success with paid subscriptions is also beneficial as the company seeks a potential buyer. Google, Yahoo and Microsoft are among the companies interested in acquiring the video-streaming company.

Hulu’s exclusive television content has attracted more than 600 major advertisers, including Nissan, McDonald’s and Johnson & Johnson. The company said it expects to make $500 million in revenue from ad sales and fees from its premium subscription service this year.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

Buyout or not, it’s still business as usual for Hulu. Today the online television hub debuted its Hulu Plus service on six Android phones.

Like its iOS and desktop brethren, the Android app lets users stream Hulu’s huge catalog of television and movies on compatible devices. However, the service currently only supports a smattering of Android handsets.

Google’s Nexus One and Nexus S made the cut, along with HTC’s Inspire 4G, and Motorola’s Droid II, Droid X, and Atrix smartphones. In a blog post announcing the launch, Hulu says it expects to expand the service to other devices and will continue to make announcements throughout the year.

Though Hulu Plus is barely a year old, its debut on Android devices has been a hotly anticipated. Whereas iOS users have iTunes for their mobile television and movie needs, the Android marketplace has historically lacked a viable outlet. A likely catalyst for Hulu’s tardiness was the development hurdle necessary for creating a single app that works smoothly with a number of Android handsets. For today’s rollout it appears that Hulu took a page from Netflix’s playbook and started with the tentpole devices.

Along with a hefty back catalog, today’s launch also brings the service’s awkward pricing back to the forefront. Though the app itself is free to download and comes with a week-long trial, Hulu Plus still awkwardly marries a subscription fee ($7.99/mo) with its ad-supported model. The jury is still out on whether the business model is a hit with users (Hulu dropped the price on the service from $9.99/mo. while it was still in beta), but with the explosive growth of the Android platform the revenue potential can’t be denied.

The new system works with Microsoft’s Kinect motion-sensing system, allowing you to speak voice commands or wave your arm in the air to pause, fast forward, rewind, or play a Hulu Plus show.

That’s nice, but the functionality is pretty much the same as with the previously launched Kinect-based Netflix service and the Zune videos service on the Xbox 360. On the one hand, we’ve seen this before and it’s not a novelty anymore. On the other, it’s smart for Microsoft to make motion-sensing and voice commands consistent across different video services.

Playing and controlling a movie using the Kinect user interface is kind of neat, but it’s also slow. That’s because Kinect makes you hold your hand up in the air until it clearly recognizes the gesture and verifies that you aren’t making a gesture inadvertently. You hold your hand on top of a circle overlay on your screen in order to select a video. That takes precious seconds to complete. By contrast, I can use a game controller to make changes to a video, such as pausing it, in a fraction of a second. The voice-control feature of Kinect — which has multiple microphones and can discern voice commands — seems to work a little faster. But you still have to semi-shout the word “Xbox” before you can issue a command such as “Pause.” Sometimes the voice command doesn’t work.

Hulu Plus itself is a good addition to Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which has become a full-fledged entertainment gateway. With Hulu Plus, Microsoft offers more options to its 50 million-plus Xbox Live members. Hulu Plus allows users to watch TV shows from ABC, Comedy Central, Fox, NBC, MTV and others. The first week of service is available for free.

Hulu Plus offers both hit TV shows and classic movies in high-definition streams, including current season episodes of shows like Modern Family, 30 Rock, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and others. You can also see back seasons of shows such as Lost or Battlestar Galactica.

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July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

It looks like rumors of a cheaper Hulu Plus subscription, the video streaming site’s premium offering, were true after all. Hulu announced the official launch of Hulu Plus today at $7.99 a month — two bucks cheaper than the $9.99 subscription offered during its preview period.

In addition, the company announced that Hulu Plus is available on Roku’s streaming video boxes today. We reported in September that the service was coming to Roku this fall. Hulu says that in the coming months it will be adding support for Tivo Premiere digital video recorders; TVs from Vizio, LG, and Panasonic; as well as the Xbox 360 and Western Digital “TV Live” devices.

Along with the slightly lowered subscription price, Hulu has put together some special offers to entice users to try out its premium service. New subscribers will get one free week of service, you and a friend will get two weeks free if you refer them to Hulu Plus, new Roku owners get one month free, and new Sony Bravia TV or Blu-ray player owners will receive 11 weeks free.

The price drop isn’t as low as the rumored $4.99 monthly pricing, but it may still end up enticing more users to try out Hulu Plus. The current pricing puts Hulu Plus slightly below Netflix’s $8.99 plan — the cheapest monthly plan that gives you access to Netflix’s streaming service. The new pricing does little to fix Hulu Plus’s content problems, though. Certain shows aren’t available for streaming to your TV with the service, and it’s not always clear when new TV episodes are available to watch.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

Hulu chief executive Jason Kilar has said in the past that the online video site is considering a premium service that’s completely ad-free, but today at the NewTeeVee Live conference in San Francisco, he didn’t seem particularly enthusiastic about the idea.

The company has already been testing its Hulu Plus subscription service, which provides users with more content and allows them to watch Hulu on mobile devices like the iPhone — but it doesn’t eliminate ads. When GigaOm’s Om Malik asked whether Hulu is considering a more expensive subscription service that does do away with ads, Kilar said he isn’t ruling it out, but he added that the audience for that kind of service isn’t as large as Malik might think.

“There is nothing that prevents us from presenting an ad-free version of Hulu Plus,” Kilar said. “It’s just the economics.”

In other words, Hulu could set a price where an ad-free model would make sense, but when the company asked its users whether they wanted to pay a certain price and skip the ads or pay a lower price that’s possible due to advertising, the latter option appeals to “the vast majority,” he said.

In fact, the main focus of Kilar’s keynote speech was on how Hulu can improve the advertising environment. Even though subscriptions and other revenue sources are important, advertising is still the biggest way companies make money from premium content right now, Kilar said. As the world moves towards Hulu’s vision that viewers will be able to watch whatever they want wherever they want, brand advertisers will be able to deliver ads that are much more targeted to the interests of their audiences.

Kilar outlined some of the ways Hulu is experimenting with new advertising models. They include some methods that Hulu has announced already, such as the ability to choose from multiple ads and to choose to watch a longer ad at the beginning of a show if that means the rest of the program is ad-free.

And there are some methods that Kilar talked about publicly for the first time. When you finish a show, Hulu now uses an algorithm to recommend other shows that you will probably like. Kilar said 10 percent of users who get show recommendations end up either watching that show right away or at least bookmarking the show page to watch later. Another new feature allows viewers to opt-out of the ad they’re watching at the moment and choose another one. The first advertiser doesn’t have to pay anything, and the second advertiser pays a higher fee than normal, since they’re getting engagement from the viewer.

Research firm Nielsen found that after viewers saw an ad on Hulu, 45 percent remembered the brand and 55 percent remembered the message, compared to 29 percent and 22 percent, respectively, for regular primetime TV programming.

Malik also questioned Kilar about the “cord-cutting” phenomenon, where services like Hulu and Netflix are seen as replacements for normal television. Kilar responded that both Hulu and, from what he’s heard, Netflix were “consciously designed to be different and not a substitute for paid TV services in the living room.” For example, neither Hulu nor Netflix offers anything that can replace the live sports or news experiences.

So Kilar argued that cord-cutting discussions are premature, although we will probably see “serious changes in terms of the distribution landscape” over the next few years.

Earlier in his talk, Kilar also offered some numbers about Hulu’s audience and revenue.