

Disney acquires nearly 30% stake in Hulu - daleharvey
http://www.nma.co.uk/disney-acquires-nearly-30-stake-in-hulu/3000398.article

======
jdburdette
So how long until Disney decides that Hulu should use the Move Media Player
and not support any browser other than IE just like abc.com. I like Hulu
because it's simple and works well, something that Disney seems to not
understand.

~~~
sant0sk1
The worst part about the ABC player is it assumes you are sitting right in
front of your computer and requires you to click a link to continue the video.

Retarded.

~~~
jasonkester
I made it most of the way thru the first season of Lost doing exactly that.
Then I found the options menu and unchecked a box. Now I'm back to my
preferred state of lethargy.

------
okeumeni
This deal confirms Hulu mission: a hub for professional media videos. I don’t
think youtube should be worried they remain a hub for catch all videos.

~~~
jimbokun
The trouble is most of the revenue seems to come from professional media
videos.

------
jimbokun
I wonder what this portends for the cable networks?

Once every show is offered by the producers directly from their web site, for
free, be it Hulu or something else, what is the point in "TV channels?" What
is the benefit that studios derive from their relationship with the cable
companies? Does this reduce the cable companies role to just supplying
bandwidth?

Yes, the cable companies have a lot of lobbyists, which is how they have been
sustaining their economic position. But I think Disney has a couple lobbyists,
too.

------
biohacker42
Cartel! And yet I still think that's an improvement. At least this way they
can disintermediate the local telco monopoly.

------
ashleyw
I envy US residents — I really hope Hulu is actually working on getting it
opened up to the rest of the world (especially the UK!)

~~~
rufo
We'll give you Hulu if you give us the BBC iPlayer. ;-)

A bit more seriously, even when/if they do bring it to other countries I'm
doubtful the entire catalog would be opened up - it would likely be on a show-
by-show, country-by-country basis as they clear the rights, and I wouldn't be
surprised if they added country-specific shows that the US can't watch as
well.

~~~
electromagnetic
The sad thing is you're likely correct. The even sadder thing is that foreign
markets don't really have a good bargaining chip. There isn't going to be any
"I'll give you this, if you give us that" going on when negotiations start up,
because the US imports virtually no show. It doesn't help that any show that
is imported has to be 'americanized'.

At least I can get most of my favorite shows here through other means. I
thankfully stopped watching broadcast television almost five years ago now,
and I have little interest in discussing television in the workplace (when you
work with electricity or on roofs, it's generally a bad idea to get distracted
with something with as trivial importance as last nights TV). So I'm usually
good to wait till a DVD release, and if I'm not I can usually wait a day for
it to get online (usually before any syndicated show premieres on Canadian
TV).

