NewTeeVee has a post about the potential dangers lurking for the professional video content sites such as Hulu.
The music industry isn’t the only one getting ready to kill off its young. Networks have increasingly been removing content from Hulu.com and their own web sites. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia episodes disappeared in January from Hulu, and shows like The Mentalist and Big Bang Theory were removed without warning from the CBS web site last fall. Finally, there’s the continuing spat between Hulu and Boxee, with rights holders pulling the strings to block any attempt to watch their content on TV-connected devices.
And things are gonna get worse, thanks to the fear of losing ad revenue in times of declining ad budgets, according to Forrester analyst JamesMcQuivey. “We expect this situation to intensify throughout the first half of 2009, resulting in bolder content restrictions on the part of content owners and more doubt cast on the role of online TV show aggregators,” he writes in a new report titled “Preparing For The Coming Online TV Backlash” that Forrester is sharing freely with registered users.
McQuivey isn’t the only one pessimistic about big media’s response to the recession. Liz noted on Friday that Hulu risks losing support from NBC and Fox, and another report just suggested that “Online video (is) not commercially viable.”
In fact, platforms like Hulu could soon find themselves in a situation similar to their musical counterparts Imeem and Last.fm. Hulu has shown some phenomenal growth, just like streaming music platforms, but all those public service ads we’ve been seeing lately seem to suggest that their ad inventory isn’t keeping up with that. Which means we could very well see Hulu and its online competition left in the cold while big media retrenches to oldteevee.
NYT chimes in on the viability of free model for professional onlint content.
MILWAUKEE — In the last couple of years, the television industry has made a big push onto the Web, giving viewers hope that they might one day reach nirvana: every show ever made, available online for immediate free viewing.
But many in the industry are now questioning whether free is a sustainable model. And some are trying to make sure people have a reason to keep paying hefty cable bills.
Time Warner Cable, the second-largest cable operator in the country, is working with customers here to test a subscriber model for online TV viewing. Residents who pay for HBO can watch “Big Love,” “Entourage” and other programs on their computers, using special software and a personal log-in. People who are not HBO subscribers are barred from the service.