FPL's 23 Things

Hulu (Thing 19) by EAChase

With over 1 billion views a month, Hulu is now the second largest online video site.  In March 2008 mega-media answered the YouTube online phenomenon with the Hulu website. As a joint venture by NBC and News Corp , it set out to be users first stop for television and movies online. Hulu makes use of an advertising model embedded into the content provided by the cable, broadcast, and other companies would contribute and then share in the revenue. A particularly interesting position for some of the PBS offerings.

Using streaming video and audio Hulu provides users access to many popular television and movies that they can select from and play on demand (and allows for some discussion and feedback by users). The most popular site referring users to Hulu content: Facebook.

What about the competition? On March 2, 2010 Viacom decided to pull some of its popular content from Hulu (see New York Times article).  Viacom decided that the revenue potential for making their own websites (Comedy Central being the main focus in this case) the exclusive home for popular shows such as The Daily Show was too great. While users seem to prefer the consolidation that Hulu provided over a fragmented experience… the price of splitting advertising dollars may dictate otherwise. Other competition comes for Hulu comes in the form of Netflix and Blockbuster providing the same service (ad-free) behind a pay-wall.

Also in the news recently is the financial troubles studios such as MGM. What does MGM’s potential bankruptcy have to do with Hulu and streaming media? Check out the last paragraph of the story… this may be a sign of the decisions libraries will be making in the future. Click here to read (or listen) to the NPR story

A recent article from the Pew Research Center on the ever growing importance of online video and what types of videos our patrons consume online and the projected trend towards more professional content being streamed.

On a final tangent, there is an interesting commentary contrasting the experience of viewing illegally copied DVDs and those purchased legally here. One that is very similar to that of streaming vs. playing the disc. Would our users draw the same parrallel between accessing their libaries electronic resources and other online content providers?

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For this Thing 19 you will need to:

1. Find time OFF desk.
2. Visit Hulu and select a show. You can search for your favorite or browse by genre.
3. Browse the offerings. Take note of clips vs. full content.
4. Watch some or all of it (taking note of the commercial break).

So where does this leave libraries and physical collections, like DVDs?  Spend a few minutes thinking about the impact of streaming media on delivery models – and the impact this change may have on libraries: not just now, but also in the upcoming years down the road.  Share your thoughts on digital delivery and libraries in your blog.

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