Hulu launched back in October, and although opinion was
divided, there were a fair few people who criticised the
service.
It looks like the NBC and News Corp. site has now managed to
change the opinion of many of those critics, who derided the features.
The negativity has given way to more positive comments, as the
service offered outstanding features implemented in to a clean and
easy-to-navigate interface.
Not only that, but the private beta testing phase that the
service has been under since going live also appears to be receiving
all of the attention and updates necessary to provide a successful
public launch, whenever that may be planned for.
Television Network Online Offerings
The way I see it, online video offerings from television
networks should now be just as much of a priority to update as their
traditional TV counterparts as the world continues to move towards
more-than-capable broadband internet access speeds at lower
costs.
The way Hulu has been set up as a company itself, with a
complete staff to focus on its sole purpose (IPTV) is definitely a
benefit for both News
Corp., NBC
Universal, and all of the television channels therefore
included among the available programming on the service.
A Growing Library Of Video Content
I have watched the Hulu library of video content grow since
launching and the number of programs continues to increase. Just
recently the entire first season of the hit show Roswell
was added as well as all 15 original episodes of the FOX series Firefly.
Not only that, but several movies are also available on Hulu,
in their entirety, with just a few commercials thrown in. My only gripe
is that not all of the shows that have been added offer full episodes,
as some just have several short video clips.
What is most intriguing about Hulu, however, is not only the
amount of content, but the amount of work that has been put into the
backend, that provides users with quick load times, hardly any skips
during playback, and the wealth of available options and features that
can be used at any time while viewing a video.
I particularly enjoy the ability to use a timestrip to cut out
only a select portion of a video clip or episode to then be emailed to
friends.
Conclusions
The service makes it very easy for users to provide feedback,
which will be extremely helpful in prioritizing and attending to any
problems, issues, or concerns that may arise as the service matures and
welcomes more user onboard through invitations.
Other television stations and their parent companies should
take note of the successful private launch of Hulu and start
deciding what needs to be done to reach the growing IPTV market. Sure,
Joost and VeohTV have helped open
eyes, but why can’t networks get even more involved?
Michael Garrett is a contributing author discussing the social networking world, his work can be found on Profy.com
