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Hulu set to launch tomorrow

By Tim Conneally, BetaNews

March 11, 2008, 12:10 PM

The ad-supported streaming video site, and product of a partnership between NBC Universal and Fox, is opening its doors to the general public tomorrow after approximately five months in private beta.

For the first time, users will be able to freely stream Hulu's Flash-based, ad-supported TV and movie content. Many had actually expected the site to go live today, and several sources simply reported that it already had.

Content comes from over 50 partners including Sony Pictures Television, MGM, NBC Universal, Fox, Warner Brothers Television, and Lionsgate. Still absent from the lineup is CBS, which instead hosts full episodes of its programs on its own site. ABC also offers streams of some of its shows, including content in HD.

Hulu will continue to remain off limits to users outside of the US, largely due to foreign rebroadcasting rights which traditionally take a long time to get approved. For example, a recent study cited in The Register stated that it takes an additional 16.7 months on average for an American television program to make it to Australian television. Given the volume of content Hulu has claimed to have at its disposal, it looks like the wait could be a while.

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By ingram091

edited Mar 12, 2008 - 4:50 AM

FINALLY!!! The beta is fantastic and the substitute sites that stream from them ar quite frankly the WORST possible experience after playing with the beta... I mean common What makes Hulu great is the instant streaming entertainment with full screen ability!!! And yea its got ads, ok so what? Thats Television? This is the best legal option there is. The BBCs iPlayer service was a HUGE success, and quite frankly its about time the USA got something similar. And Hulu is the BEST of the technologies for on demand streaming I have ever seen. Well beyond anythign MS or real or even apple ever produced. I mean this is FAST. click and watch. Buffer lag is Minimal if at all.

And all of it Legal free and fullscreen!!!

Best of all they allow you to embed your favorite shows into your webpages without 1 problem... Hello fan sites!!!

Fair use is back baby. At least for a little while...

PS to those outside... I watch the BBC for free via proxy all the time from the USA. I even submitted beta test reports to their site lol. No worries at all. You can count on that being the case with Hulu as well, Proxies will become your friend...

Score: 0

By sjc001

posted Mar 12, 2008 - 2:29 PM

www.joost.com

Score: 0

By GraphiX2004

edited Mar 11, 2008 - 8:09 PM

wow fancy that yet another legal service only available in the usa

"believe it or not their is a real wide world outside of the usa"

and this is only going to annoy more people of the world because yet again going the legal route gets us not only content restrictions but now global location restrictions.

and people wonder why there is piracy

will they ever get it right?

Score: 0

By Alphonso

edited Mar 11, 2008 - 3:13 PM

As a native Detroiter, I fully appreciate the hard workers coming from our southern neighbor, Canada, willing to work for industry average salaries while paying taxes to multiple countries.
If it weren't for them, more of us would have to get jobs! (Of course, more jobs would *be available*, but that's another rant.)

That being said, most of Canada's populace would be free of the "foreign rebroadcast" restrictions mentioned in the article, as the most populated areas of Canada can receive US transmissions just fine, and have no need to rebroadcast.

As for Hulu checking your IP address: it is a simple matter to set up (or register on) a proxy site which has a US address, and stream the content through that. This is already being done with conventional broadcast video.

Score: 0

By shevloff

edited Mar 11, 2008 - 12:56 PM

Looking forward to Hulu. We travel up to Canada frequently visiting family. Woui=ld like to obtain Hulu there especially as most of Canada watches and retransmits US TV!!!!
Neville Shevloff
Cape Coral
Florida

Score: 0

By BalloonDoggies

edited Mar 11, 2008 - 1:12 PM

Boy, someone didn't read the article!

"Hulu will continue to remain off limits to users outside of the US.."

Last I checked, Canada isn't part of the US...they probly restrict access by IP address, not by the users' home address.

Score: 0

By swattz101

posted Mar 11, 2008 - 7:39 PM

If I read the post by shevloff correctly, they would LIKE it if they could receive Hulu in Canada when they travel, not they expect it to actually be there. Their argument is that most Canadian states can watch American TV without the normal broadcast restrictions, probably because most of them live close enough to the border to be able to receive the broadcasts that don't stop at the border as they follow the laws of physics instead of man-made laws.

I don't know that for fact; I am just ASS-U-ME-ing this from my interpretation. :-)