Hulu — answerable to a growing number of masters
May 1, 2009 — Abigail Hamilton
Great discussion about the Hulu-Disney deal over at NewTeeVee. Liz Gannes and Chris Albrecht do a fabulous job of teasing apart the interesting issues.
The bottom line is that wrangling over control of content is not going to stop anytime soon, and that — despite strong earnings in this difficult climate — cable companies are working hard to find a an evolution path that keeps them in the game.
Comcast and other cable companies are seeing their core paid distribution businesses get more and more threatened by Hulu, as it starts to fully become the TV receiver for the Internet age. Will the cable companies head to court, like in the UK, where broadcasters’ joint venture Project Kangaroo was deemed to be anti-competitive? You can be sure the giant is no longer sleeping.

