Hulu is one of my favorites websites. But its future seems to be getting more challenging. BW has an article on the challenges ahead for Hulu.
In the Super Bowl commercial calling Hulu “an evil plot to destroy the world,” 30 Rock star Alec Baldwin intones: “There’s nothing you can do to stop it.” He’s right that viewers can’t get enough of the joint venture from NBC Universal (GE) and News Corp. (NWS). In February it had the biggest surge in unique viewers of any online video site in that period, according to comScore (SCOR).
Even Disney (DIS), a media company that has restricted most of its television and film content to its own sites, is negotiating to put videos on Hulu in exchange for an equity stake in the joint venture, according to a source with knowledge of the deal.
But Hulu is facing plenty of roadblocks elsewhere, including among advertisers, partners that provide entertainment content, and even its parent companies concerned that the site might cannibalize their own competing media. Under pressure from content providers, Hulu has gone back on its pledge to allow anyone to syndicate its content anywhere on the Web. At least one analyst says the site is struggling to find ads for many of its videos. And a lengthening list of rivals is rushing to move content online, spurred by the success of Hulu and online video leader YouTube, owned by Google (GOOG).
To News Corp., NBC, and other media companies pinning their hopes on Web video, the speed bumps keep alive concerns over the ability to offset diminished demand for broadcast advertising with revenue from Internet programming.
Analysts are already revisiting their forecasts for ad spending on Hulu and other online video sites this year. In November, Screen Digest’s Arash Amel predicted Hulu would generate $180 million in advertising this year, matching or surpassing YouTube. London-based Amel still expects Hulu to give YouTube a run for its money, but he now thinks each will take in only around $120 million in 2009.
Just as the music industry, hollywood needs to have patience in nuturing an innovative ecosytem to succeffully transistion into the digital future. If they somehone screw up and kill Hulu, the most innovative professional video site out there, they are doing themselves a great disservice.