Hulu- The Next Target of Big Media?

From the NY Times

A dear friend of mine forwarded the article above to me, and I felt compelled to touch on it.

Hulu, as a fair number of my readers may or may not know, is a really wonderful alternative to cable, satellite and even iTunes for a lot of people looking to get a TV fix on the cheap. Limited commercial interruption, and an ever growing library of "watch instantly" content has made Hulu a must watch for people who have internet and forgot to reload their iPod before a trip.

Because of their success, the media companies have shifted a little of their attention from Apple and iTunes just long enough to, what appears to me, scare Hulu into rethinking their operation. Since their inception, Hulu has made it hard to get from your computer with a TV show to a TV of any kind. Sure, there are workarounds, but they aren't easy, and don't always last. I don't blame them. Would you want to be a target of the cable companies or the content producers, especially as an upstart? I wouldn't either.

Now, it appears Hulu might have 'jumped the shark'. Reports say they may charge for content starting with their new iPad application. My question is, does this kill Hulu?

As Big Media gets rolling, once you start to see these sorts of concessions, there are more sure to follow. Look at Netflix. Netflix got movies into the hands of people less likely to watch than the normal demographic, and what did the movie companies do? They've started forcing them to hold movies for 28 days, to sell more DVD's.

Even Apple, reports have always been out there that Apple thinks prices are too high for individual TV shows. Would you rather buy a box set for $50 from iTunes or $19 at Best Buy? Apple knows this too, but they fought really hard against the music companies and movies might be too hard right now.

So back to the question, does this kill Hulu? My thought is, it wounds Hulu. The next round of concessions, whatever they may be, will be the mortal blow. As most of us know, Hollywood hasn't figured out DVD is on the way out, and because there isn't a formal replacement they've bet the farm on, so they need to do what they do best, lawyer up. In the process, stifling innovation and consumer choice.

Where does that leave us? Well, this round is just the motion picture studios picking the golden goose up by the neck. They haven't killed this one yet, but they will. Becoming a child of Comcast will take care of that.