Hulu In the News

Man, I can't sneeze these days without knocking down a handful of Hulu news stories. They are basically all positive this week-- the sum of all the parts is that Hulu is well on the way to world domination.

By the way, Hulu is one year old today. So, Happy Birthday!

Who Still Watches Saturday Night Live...Live?

The name should perhaps be changed to Saturday Night Streamed, suggests the Times' Brian Stelter, and he kinda has a point: The most memorable SNL sketches of the season were likely seen by more people online than on broadcast television. Tina Fey's debut impersonation of Sarah Palin was viewed 14 million times on Hulu.com, compared with 10 million people estimated to have seen it on TV. Numbers for her follow-up impersonation were similarly lopsided. We love the way NBC has used Hulu, but the whole thing looks like a trap.

Web Site's Formula For Success -- TV Content With Fewer Ads

“THUMBS up” and “thumbs down” ratings for commercials. Choose-your-own-advertisement options before shows begin. Interactive games during advertising breaks.

In the last year these online advertising innovations have been popularized by Hulu, the online video Web site that will celebrate its first anniversary on Wednesday. For all that has been written about Hulu’s easy-to-use, aesthetically pleasing interface, the advertising experience is equally important.

PlayOn Adds Hulu to Your Xbox 360, PS3

PlayOn streams online video from the likes of Hulu, YouTube, and Netflix to your Xbox 360, Playstation 3, or HP MediaSmart TV. I've only tested the application on my Xbox 360 (it shows up as a source in the media blade of the dashboard), and for the most part it's worked really well.

Happy Birthday, Hulu! I'm glad you guys didn't suck

Online tv/film site Hulu launched a year ago today, and boy did we have to eat crow.

We provided nearly constant criticism of the site since it was announced in March 2007 (no name, billion dollar valuation, name translation issues, trademark absurdity, etc.). But despite a slightly bumpy launch, we had to admit that they did an outstanding job. And today I can safely say I spend more time watching Hulu than I do my standard home cable connection.

Hulu Wants to Enter UK; Held Up by Kangaroo's Troubles

We've speculated for a while that NBCU/News Corp.'s US VOD JV Hulu would like to launch here in the UK. Today C21 reports the site is considering "a partnership approach" with UK counterpart Kangaroo, with C21 even suggesting Kangaroo could itself get named "Hulu" rather than the rumoured "See-Saw"…

This is not quite our understanding of the situation. Sources told paidContent:UK the much-lauded Hulu is hoping for a UK launch next year, along with several other territories under consideration. But...

Sharing Tools and TV Shows Help Hulu Win Online Fans

Hulu CEO Jason Kilar could give you a whole list of reasons his "premium" video site has seen such stunning growth, but the sharing tools would have to top it.

TV shows such as Family Guy and Saturday Night Live appear in their full and uncut glory on Hulu, and also get widely shared on blogs and websites via simple embedding tools and e-mail links.