Hulu pulled from Boxee

[Brent]

You've all probably already seen this news, but in case you haven't http://www.geektonic.com/2009/02/hul...u-content.html

Boxee Blog Announcement
Hulu Blog Announcement

Hulu is forcing Boxee to pull the Hulu content from their HTPC software this Friday.

I wonder whether this will affect SageTV's plans for Hulu? I hope not, but I fear the answer...

[stanger89]

I would expect no. I'm thinking Boxee, and the majority of other current options that support Hulu, do so without "approval", sorta by hacking it in. I can see Hulu not being happy with that. Best I can figure, Sage is going for "legitimate" support.

[thatdude90210]

Uh oh, Hulu is being pulled from Boxee... due to some content providers having their heads up their butts. Will Playon suffer the same fate? Or for that matter, what about SageTV's own attempt at integrating hulu with HD theater?

[Brent]

Originally Posted by stanger89

I would expect no. I'm thinking Boxee, and the majority of other current options that support Hulu, do so without "approval", sorta by hacking it in. I can see Hulu not being happy with that. Best I can figure, Sage is going for "legitimate" support.

I sure hope you are right. If so it would be a huge win for SageTV. If not....

[Halstead]

So, it looks like Hulu is going to start keeping Boxee users from accessing Hulu starting tomorrow:
Hulu Blog
Boxee Blog

I wonder, what this means (if anything) for the various 3rd parties that access Hulu, and what it might mean for SageTV integration.

* merged *

[evilpenguin]

Amid the noise and empty boycott threats across the net I did see one interesting thought on the Engadget comments. The poster speculated that by getting Hulu off the internet and directly onto TV's that it somehow blurred the line between internet video and regular TV that put it in a legal gray area as far as licensing and compensation are concerned.

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by stanger89

I would expect no. I'm thinking Boxee, and the majority of other current options that support Hulu, do so without "approval", sorta by hacking it in. I can see Hulu not being happy with that. Best I can figure, Sage is going for "legitimate" support.

Have we gotten any more details about Sage's Hulu support? Given that the only device that I know of that is working on official Hulu support is the Roku device, I've always assumed Sage's support was hacked together too.

By my read of Hulu's blog post, the Hulu folks seemed to be pretty clear that they didn't mind Boxee streaming Hulu videos. And why would they? They were still getting their ads out there (and I assume they had a way of tracking them). They said it was the content providers that made them pull Boxee. And, I assume this was because they didn't want the Boxee and Hulu competing with cable/satellite/OTA. As long as Hulu is just for people sitting in front of their computer, most people won't use it as their primary source for these shows.

Sage is probably too small to get the attention of content providers, but it wouldn't surprise me if the content providers issued Hulu a general decree that would also apply to Sage's efforts.

[jason22]

I haven't used Boxee. Were there any restrictions that it appeared to be bypassing. Could you FF through or skip commercials? Could you use Boxee to view HULU outside its servie area? If not, I too would be worried that content providers are pushing back for competitive reasons.

[evilpenguin]

Nope, it was essentially the same thing as using the website and going fullscreen.

[cncb]

Originally Posted by reggie14

Given that the only device that I know of that is working on official Hulu support is the Roku device, I've always assumed Sage's support was hacked together too.

Where did you see this? I have seen a lot of requests but when did Roku say they are working on "official support"?

[QueOnda]

Originally Posted by evilpenguin

Amid the noise and empty boycott threats across the net I did see one interesting thought on the Engadget comments. The poster speculated that by getting Hulu off the internet and directly onto TV's that it somehow blurred the line between internet video and regular TV that put it in a legal gray area as far as licensing and compensation are concerned.

Hmm, Uh, didn't we just here some stuff from CES that TVs are now being integrated with stuff like that? and IPTV stuff too.

Now companies are making a ruckus? Of course it's the other companies.

Lines are blurred for a non-technical person, but we all know it's still coming from the internet but a larger viewing screen.

This reminds me when they were going to sale mp3 in the store instead of buying cd, but the music company didn't want that. That was over a decade ago but NOW they embraced it and doing it.

This also reminds me that if they could they would charge for email because that taking away from postal charges. It's a blurred line, you know. People are now receiving packages and now download able games

I don't understand the stance, they are still putting advertisements in the video stream. I wonder if it has to do anything with the TV.com vs Hulu.

One thought is that Hulu is an online source. Is someone really going to sit in front of the computer for hours watching a season of a show or just watch enough to go out and buy it from the store to watch it on your tv? I'm sure the latter is what they are hoping for. Now, since the people are having a means on getting it on tv, now that messes up the game plan (money).

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by cncb

Where did you see this? I have seen a lot of requests but when did Roku say they are working on "official support"?

Well, even that is speculation from rumors. There are a lot of reports of Roku working on Hulu support. And, an interview with a Roku VP last year indicated they're talking to the "big web video providers". If we believe the rumors (and with this recent event, I'm less inclined to), I think that strongly suggests Roku would be acting with Hulu's support (otherwise they wouldn't do it).

[sandor]

Originally Posted by stanger89

I would expect no. I'm thinking Boxee, and the majority of other current options that support Hulu, do so without "approval", sorta by hacking it in. I can see Hulu not being happy with that. Best I can figure, Sage is going for "legitimate" support.

vaguely, according to boxee's blog, Hulu allowed and knew of it's presence in the boxee software:

so we built support for browsing Hulu on boxee, reached out to Hulu, and on Oct 20th, 2008 shared it with our alpha testers. the response has been amazing. people love watching many of their favorite shows on Hulu via boxee. last week we generated more than 100,000 streams for them…

it is really sad, as the content was no different in appearance or ads when compared to the website, and, in fact, it was much easier to find content through boxee....

[tmiranda]

Lots of possible reasons for this but here it my take.

If I were a cable or Satellite company paying big bucks to the networks to broadcast their shows, and then the networks turned around and allowed the same shows to be streamed to viewers TV sets cutting me out, I'd be pretty ticked off. Allowing the shows to be streamed to a computer probably got my attention but allowing the shows to be watched on a TV using a simple consumer box would put me over the edge.

Follow the money, the networks were probably getting heat from the cable and satellite companies.

[HelenWeathers]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

If I were a cable or Satellite company paying big bucks to the networks to broadcast their shows, and then the networks turned around and allowed the same shows to be streamed to viewers TV sets cutting me out, I'd be pretty ticked off.

Here's a quote from a Comcast press release:

“In terms of the overall VOD business the majority of very attractive product that people are getting on sites like Fancast and Hulu … a huge amount of that is already on our VOD platform,” he said. “The interesting thing is the programmers are very sensitive to the fact that the affiliate fees that the cable and satellite industry pays are really the most attractive part of their business. Most of them are not making very much money, if any money at all on the Internet.”

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/fin...ubs-2008-14615

[jvl711]

Why has PlayOn not been asked to remove support for Hulu???

I wonder if Sage will let is know if they are not going to continue on their path with Hulu support?

[Brent]

Originally Posted by jvl711

Why has PlayOn not been asked to remove support for Hulu???

We don't really know whether PlayOn or any others have been contacted at this point. We'll soon find out probably.

I wonder if Sage will let is know if they are not going to continue on their path with Hulu support?

I'm sure they'll let us know once they decide.

[Ryokurin]

You have to keep in mind that some of the content providers may be concerned about protecting their overall business, such as when Warner Brothers pulled all their current shows from the networks online streaming because they felt it would undercut syndication. Overly cautious? Yes. but I don't blame them either, especially in the current market.

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by jvl711

Why has PlayOn not been asked to remove support for Hulu???

I wonder if Sage will let is know if they are not going to continue on their path with Hulu support?

The PlayOn product costs money. I would suppose some of that is being used as a license fee to Hulu.

Gerry

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by gplasky

The PlayOn product costs money. I would suppose some of that is being used as a license fee to Hulu.

I highly doubt it. It would be big news if Hulu has official arrangements with other companies like that, and I haven't seen it. Other companies- bigger companies- would be jumping on board. Playon has sort of responded on their forums about the Hulu/Boxee ban, and their reply didn't say anything about being partners with Hulu. They said has not heard anything from Hulu on this subject and nothing that's been said indicates this applies to anything other than Boxee.

Playon is pretty small, as is Sage. Either one can probably get away with some Hulu support as long as it doesn't wind up in some New York Times advertisement. But, we might find it going against Hulu's terms of use soon.