Hulu and the expectations game

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Will be interesting to watch: The biggest transition I'm waiting to see made (and it's going to happen sooner rather than later) is free, ad-supported, downloadable, long-form content like TV shows. I was hoping Hulu might be in a position to finally push things there. And maybe they'll eventually get there. But right now that just doesn't seem to be the case.

User-generated, short-form content is fine and all and its definitely here to stay. But I think its worth as downloadable content is also overblown a bit here in our circles as most of it is sporadic and not episodic, so you can't always rely on having a steady stream of content for your device (I consider most podcasts to be on a more professional than the typical YouTube clip.)

Plus even the most popular YouTube content (Chris Crocker's 'Leave Britney Alone' for example) just barely resonates on an equal level to mass-marketed TV/movie programming. These broader mainstream media items serve as cultural reference points for a much wider range of people in ways that the highly-segmented, user-generated video on the web still can't even come close to matching on a consistent basis. I can't start up a conversation with a total stranger about a highly-popular YouTube video with a million views because the odds of them having seen it are very low. However, I can startup a conversation talking about even a moderately obscure cable TV show like 'LA Ink' and have a fairly decent chance of knowing that they've at least heard about it. The reach is just on an entirely different level (and the gap will likely only increase as the web becomes increasingly segmented.)

Long-form content from mainstream media enjoys the benefits of reach and marketing that still make it tough to match. And Hulu definitely has a chance to make a major push on this front as nobody is currently providing a good solution for free content. Ironically, if Hulu ever does get to the point where they officially support downloadable content that will place them as much in competition with paid services like Itunes as it will with YouTube.; Posted by: RustyShackleford Posted on: 10/29/07 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use