Monday, November 23, 2009, 8:58AM ET - U.S. Markets open in 32 mins..
When online video site Hulu was announced in 2007, it didn’t even have a name, let alone a product. It was merely an idea for a joint venture between NBC and Fox — two traditional media companies that didn’t want to see YouTube do to their businesses what Napster did to the music industry. Few in Silicon Valley thought it would work. In fact, all-things-Web blog TechCrunch came up with its own name for the venture: Clown Co.
Fast forward to today and TechCrunch’s editor Michael Arrington now calls Hulu one of the only Web sites he can’t live without. Fast Company Magazine calls Hulu the third most innovative company in the world — one slot above Apple. And users like it too: In February, Hulu viewers increased by 42% over the month before, even as total online video streams contracted by 12%. Hulu devotees watched more than 300 million videos in the month, considerably less than YouTube’s 13 billion. But Hulu skipped over two sites to become the fourth most watched video site on the web, trailing Yahoo by just 20 million views.
We wanted to sit down with the guy who managed to pull off the impossible: Jason Kilar, Hulu’s CEO. It seems success isn’t making his job any easier.
That’s because he has to walk a fine line among those he defines as his three “customers:” the networks, the users, and the advertisers. And as Hulu becomes more powerful and more important to all three, conflicts are arising. In this segment, we ask Kilar about a recent report that NBC wants to shut Hulu down, a user revolt over a small startup called Boxee, and what’s made Hulu such a surprising hit.
I love Hulu. TV on demand with limited commercials; it's better than TiVo. I don't know how many times my friend's TiVo has missed the last two minutes of a show due to some type of weird recording glitch. Too bad that the Neilson Company doesn't count web views and TiVo (and other DVR playbacks) as "views". Hey, TV world! The rest of us are in the 21st century! Catch up!
Wow - Tech Ticker is actually covering a tech story! How refreshing. Can you please see the Aaron and Henry are added to the layoff list at Yahoo.
Mogley, please tell me you aren't that stupid. The rich took the biggest hit in this destruction of wealth. Your 1k in an Ameritrade account might have taken a beating down to 600, but think of someone who has 100M+. If everyone who was indexed lost roughly 30%, and those in private investments lost 40% or more in some cases. For those who were exposed to fraud, ala Madoff & Samford, there is no coming back from that kind of loss. Its not a stock that tanked but might recover, its a 100% loss on the investment. So back to my example of 100M+, those who took that kind of hit, 40%, lost 40 million dollars and it might have taken them 20+ years to accumulate that much wealth. With the market slated to continue its decline until 2010 and go sideways to 2012, why would you assume the rich got off without any penalty? (P.S. Rich people pay taxes too, so they're in the same boat as joe taxpayer who bailed out companies.)
charles. don't bother with him, he has been stinkin up this blog for sometime now. can't reason with the warped.
I'd like to kick this laughing fool in the mouth and then take his money.
Lacey is the WORST interviewer ever - she takes forever to say nothing - always placing her ego before the subject...
Arrington didn't come up with "ClownCo." His post said that was the name Google used internally.
"Automomous" - hello copy edit. Speaking about Web 2.0. How about a bigger video player Yahoo!
Jason Kilar looks like Jim Carey. lol. this guy acts like he is doing something here. they are giving away content free.
What's with the fascination of bashing the wealthy? Do you honestly think that the small number of super rich, who many think don't pay taxes, are why the country is so much in debt? Or is it just the uncontrolled politicians that spend more than the government takes in?
People want to hear from thought leaders not listen to Lacey ask long winded questions. Her language is very flip and unprofessional..."tell me how that went down?" Things don't "go down" at this level of the media business. She would be laughed out of any professional, mid-level management meeting. There is professional business language that is used to get to the point and speak at the level of a business leader. She should be living in Brooklyn or L.A. auditioning for the quirky girl role in Zach Branf's next movie...something that suits her much better. Maybe Yahoo! can't afford to pay a professional rate... She has no business vernacular, no professional polish and shouldn't be interviewing CEO's.
Great site, but with 1000's of competing video sites vying for market share (take a look at OVGuide.com for examples), they are up for an uphill battle trying to dominate the market.
Mogley - you are a fool....Plain and simple....Lots and lots of people lost huge amounts of money at very high levels....What do you think happened to people like Sandy Weill that still own millions of shares of Citi even though now its down to $3 a share???Or Hank Greenberg former CEO of AIG who owned a huge percentage of the company....People got wiped out right and left....What about the Bear Stearns managing directors? You are smoking crack if you think only people with less wealth lost money....Do you understand the concept of the stock markets? What do you think happens with the market loses $2 trillion wealth? Do you think it magically reappears in AIG's coffers? That is net loss. That money is gone...Vamoosss....And its not #2 trillion in little people's money. . I am sure Down will eventually hit 14K, it just might be in 2020, not 2010..... You are a classic rah rah pump and dumper....Good luck trying to convince the entire stock market to buy with your one-off posts on Yahoo Finance! Good luck with that strategy! Keep "buying on the dips" you baffoon...
Charles - I don't think you think before you write your thoughts. First of all, if you were "indexed" at a 90/10 mix you probably lost 50% not 30%. And if you have 100 mil then lose 50 mil, aren't you still much better off than the one who has only 600 dollars left? Also, I believe you are referring to robert allen s t a n f o r d - not "Samford".
Y'all just remember. You can't take it with you. Just enjoy and be thankful for what you do have while you have it, whether it's $50 mil. or $600. K?
He comes across as slightly bitter and defensive. My opinion, hulu won't last long...
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mmark - Tuesday April 28, 2009 11:32AM EDT
lets get rid of the two men interviewers and replace them with this infobabe. makes you want to watch the clips overnovernover.