In the LA Times (Monday June 16) Scott Collins wrote an insightful piece on Hulu, NBC Universal and News Corporation’s online video joint venture. The occasion was the addition of Comedy Central’s Daily Show to the Hulu roster. As he points out, the greater significance of that appearance is that it inaugurates a relationship with Viacom. If Hulu wants to be the “department store” for video on the web, new partners are the metric of success to watch. Collins also helpfully assesses another important metric of success for a video site, which is depth of content. Hulu’s 700 titles are only a start at what they will need to develop a habit among viewers for dropping in.
If Collins misses anything it is in his contrast of Hulu on the computer with the TV set. These are not the competitors he poses, but rather stops along an evolutionary path. For replays of traditional media content, computer viewing is just the first incarnation of Internet delivery and it may not be the most significant one. As Apple TV and the new Roku Netflix set top box demonstrate (with pay television business models), the next step for the Internet is migration from the computer screen to the TV screen. This process is one writers need to be keenly aware of. When Hulu, and other services like it, compete with cable-based Video On Demand on the TV set they will move from the minor leagues to the majors. Under the Guild’s new Minimum Basic Agreement, ad-supported VOD via cable or via Hulu to the computer, or eventually to the set top, will pay 1.2% of distributor’s gross receipts for feature films produced after July 1, 1971 and 2.0% of distributor’s gross receipts for television programs produced after 1977 (and a small number produced prior to 1977). Great potential is there for reuse of network and studio libraries on current and future digital platforms—and thanks to writers’ resolve it will be covered by our new contract.
Read the article: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-channel16-2008jun16,0,1733921.story
