After gearing up all summer, Hulu (the NBC-Fox joint venture that is going up against YouTube) was supposed to launch in private beta yesterday, says a source. That is why NBC pulled its videos from YouTube last week. (This, after NBC abandoned iTunes for Amazon, and already started offering free downloads of its shows on the Web).
But launching a video Website can be hard—even if it is just a private beta. Now, says our source, Hulu is gunning for a private beta launch next Monday, so that it can still meet CEO Jason Kilar’s self-imposed October deadline. That date could slip until the following Wednesday and technically be considered on-time, of course, but Kilar probably wants to avoid the trick-or-treat jokes. We’re still waiting for our invites.
great news
i’ll be wait on Monday
I got my invite today. LOL suckaz!
No more dick in a box
This is a sad day, indeed.
I wonder if online video aggregation will do any good for nbc.
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Custom Social Networks
I won’t be watching until they come up with a better name.
Watch out Joost. Their better be real about going to the browser. Competition is getting serious. I really don´t like the name though, HULU, sound like a video player for the linux Ubuntu… : )
Looks like the online video market is getting hotter day by day.
HULULULULULU……Here comes the beginning of the end!!
@ Jerome:
Research suggests that you don’t give a flying f about the name. As long as the content satisfies, you will be happy.
I prefer clownco.com…maybe I’ll change my hosts file to reroute the address.
@ Alex H,
If you mean “you” as in general consumer then I agree with you, but if you mean “you” as in the discerning techie & early adopter that I am then it’s not true. But in the end I would likely have to break down once they reached the general consumer portion of the curve. After all, if you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em.
You go boys! The NBC move away from iTunes was a work of total genius!
http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com
With hulu, I wish everyday were Monday!
Truth be told, videos for tv shows like Heroes and House are still most coveted by consumers, so I think Hulu might take a big bite out of a lot of other video sites unless they screw up the delivery and insert too many ads, streaming problems, etc.
Will HuLu be free? Joost is free, YouTube free. Video on Demand through my cable co. is 99 cents per episode for most ‘first’ run TV shows. I think if these companies want the general public to adopt online TV viewing it has to be free until the quality if the stream greatly improves.
As for stupid names… one word, Wii
Stupid name but immediate success.
I think that some of the ads will be supplied by Cheap-TV-Spots.com through their automated ad production services BareNakedAds.com and MovieMovieMovie.com (ads for the motion picture industry). At least many of their ads are award winners and are often entertaining. Certainly HuLu’s going to need a lot of hype, though, to make it fly. It could be a good test platform for TV pilots, too, and an entry point for smaller advertising clients. Those reasons alone are justification to aggressively support the new platform.
Check out this YOUTUBE video
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1s-mEfhVELM