Hulu the online joint video venture between News Corp and NBC Universal will make its public debut on Wednesday.
The video site will feature free, ad-supported full length TV episodes along with movies from NBC, Fox and more than 50 media companies including Sony Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Some of the TV offerings on Hulu include “The Simpsons”, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and 100 films including “The Big Lebowski” and “Mulholand Drive.”
Hulu Logo
(Photo Credit: Hulu)
Hulu is also adding content from Warner Brothers Television Group, Lionsgate, along with sports highlights from the NBA and NHL and full-length NCAA men’s basketball games from the last 25 years.
Hulu’s videos are also on available on AOL, MSN, Comcast, MySpace and Yahoo. More than 5,000 Web sites have embedded clips from Hulu, according to the company.
The new video site has been unable to strike deals with two major television networks, ABC and CBS. Jason Kilar, Hulu’s chief executive, said he was still having regular discussions with executives at the two networks.
“We won’t stop until we have everything in terms of premium content. That is our mission,” Kilar told the New York Times. “I just think back to the fact that 24 months ago, there wasn’t anything online legally in terms of full TV episodes or films. In just 17 weeks, we have gone from nothing to over 200 premium titles.”
Hulu has been in private testing since October, but has been inviting users to enter the site. Kilar said that more than five million viewers have watched Hulu videos in the last 30 days, and that 80 percent of the shows are viewed at least once a week.
The site has been received favorably by the media and critics for being easy to use and its high quality video content that is appealing to advertisers.
On the advertising end Hulu is giving users a choice of what they can watch. During some shows users will be able to select the commercial they want to view. Other viewers will have the option to watch a two-minute film trailer before a TV show and watch the remainder of the episode commercial free.
