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Keep an eye on: Hulu
Hulu , an online video service formed by two U.S. media conglomerates, is open for business, and the reviews are good and not-so-good.
Hulu begins a private test today with two new partners in one of big media’s most ambitious attempts to court viewers wherever they spend time. The joint venture of NBC Universal and News Corp now adds shows from Sony Pictures Television and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios.
TechCrunch, which had not seen the site any actual videos on the site said it “was very impressed by the preview of Hulu’s interface and the bulk of its features.” It noted however that for every 30 minutes of video, you may see 2 minutes of ads: better than regular TV but “probably more commercials than people are used to when watching video on the Web.” Kilar told us full length shows carry about a quarter of the inventory in traditional TV.
The long-awaited free, advertising-supported service makes its debut despite lingering skepticism among media watchers, many of whom have who have struck out on their own by offering shows on its own sites and are either selling shows on Apple’s iTunes or offering it for free on other.
But these companies have yet to garner the hundreds of millions of viewers on such services as Google’s monster service, YouTube.
Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey told us on Friday that the biggest obstacle would likely be the high costs of running the service. Silicon Alley Investor’s Henry Blodget takes that point to the extreme and suggests that “Hulu-the-company is screwed.”
Keep an eye on:
- Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia is set to announce the appointment of Jacki Kelley, VP of Sales Strategy at Yahoo, to the newly created position of executive vice president of media sales. (WSJ)(Silicon Alley Insider )
- Regarding reports that Jeff Bewkes will soon replace Richard Parson as chief of Time Warner, Variety’s Peter Bart wonders: “”So what will life be like in Bewkestan?” (Variety )
- CNN soon will open a bureau in Second Life, and will rely on Second Life “residents” to do all the legwork. (Mediaweek )
(Video: Hulu)
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