UPDATE: Guess what? Apparently, the Powers That Be behind hulu think “full launch” and “open to the public” translate to “limited to US consumers.” D’oh!
I’VE been part of Hulu’s private beta — well, not really. I mean, they allowed me to join, but the beta that began in October only allowed US residents to actually watch the videos, so thanks but no thanks.
NBC Universal and Fox, however, have announced that their joint venture will finally have its full launch this Wednesday (Thursday here in Manila), so I’m pretty excited. Well, I’m assuming that when they say “full launch” and “open to the public” they’ll finally allow everyone outside the US to enjoy the service, so correct me if I’m wrong and the content will once more be restricted to US residents, or to certain countries. If that will be the case, then bummer, heh 
Sure, we’ve heard one video service after another touted as a “YouTube killer,” but Hulu is interesting because it will focus on professional content. That is, content from the TV shows of NBC, Fox and their partners, as well as full-blown movies. Nope, no videos of your cat flushing the toilet or you and your friends imitating the Backstreet Boys — unless, I guess, if your homemade videos were aired on TV.
NBC closed down its YouTube channel last year in preparation for Hulu, and copyright issues have been a bone of contention between YouTube and different content providers such as the major broadcast networks. After all, a lot of the “user-generated content” on YouTube actually consists of clips from TV shows that users recorded and uploaded.
For instance, locally we have that clip of the unbelievable Q & A performance of candidate Janina San Miguel, who was eventually crowned Bb. Pilipinas-World (I’m not kidding; she’ll be representing us in the Miss World competition), ripped from the telecast and now one of the most viewed (not to mention among the most discussed and most responded) videos this week on YouTube. I won’t give you the link or embed the video here, but I’m sure a lot of you have already seen it, heh
Obviously, NBC, Fox and its partners would rather have people watch their shows online via Hulu, on their own sites or on their partner video sites, rather than have viewers record their shows and then distribute and watch them, illegally, on sites like YouTube. And yeah, the ad-supported model of Hulu does look promising, allowing viewers to watch whole TV episodes and movies for free. It’s great in theory, so let’s just see how well they execute it.
Still, I doubt that “subversive” stuff like the Janina San Miguel clip, or the “300″ Ilonggo version, or the earlier “Keys Me” which arguably brought YouTube to mainstream consciousness in the Philippines, will disappear. Hulu is carving a niche for itself, but non-professional content will still be fun for a lot of viewers, whether original homemade content, mashups of content from different providers, or even just clips from a TV show or movie. After all, sure, you might want to watch the whole episode or movie, but sometimes you just want to see the best parts or the most hilarious moments. Case in point: would most of you want to view the whole telecast of the pageant again, or just watch Janina’s Q & A over and over again?
So, let’s hope Hulu lives up to the hype, while we continue to enjoy these YouTube moments.
