Television networks NBC and Fox are taking their forthcoming Hulu online video service into private beta today, offering video from almost 100 television series including popular shows from the networks’ current lineups (including Heroes,The Simpsons,Prison Break, and 30 Rock) along with fan favorites like Miami Vice, Lou Grant, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Hulu has also managed to land content from two major new partners: Sony Pictures Television and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios.
Users who signed up for the private beta may not receive invitations right away: Hulu plans to ramp up the service over the coming weeks, issuing more invitations every week. However, Hulu’s content sharing arrangements with other portals already have some of the content turning up on AOL’s video portal. Other sites set to get content from Hulu include MSN, MySpace, Yahoo, and Comcast.
Hulu is not setting out to compete with YouTube, although the networks would certainly be pleased if its presence cut down on the amount of infringing video from its shows posted to the video-sharing site. Instead, Hulu is a joint venture between Fox and NBC designed to serve as an online outlet for shows from bth the companies’ broadcast networks and its cable television properties. In NBC’s case, that means shows from networks like Sci-Fi, USA, and Bravo can turn up; in Fox’s case, shows from the FX network are slated for the Hulu service. Shows will appear on Hulu after their broadcast or cable premieres, and will apparently only be available online for a limited period of time (say, five weeks), which will reduce Hulu’s utility as an archive of past shows. Early reports from beta users indicate the quality of the video is good (though shows are not available in HD).
There will be no fee to use the service once it’s launched, although Hulu will be supported by advertising. Users will be able to use widgets to embed videos in their own blogs or Web sites, and email friends links to short clips of shows. Users posting Hulu content on their sites will not receive any revenue from drawing visitors to Hulu, although the moves do give Hulu an edge in offering users legitimate ways to republish content.
NBC and Fox are betting heavily on Hulu—NBC recently stopped posting clips from its shows to YouTube in preparation to give Hulu an exclusive “lock” on NBC online content, and NBC recently ended its relationship with Apple which had the company selling television episodes on Apple’s iTunes store.
