![]() ![]() Hulu, in contrast, is doubling down on a premise that seems very 2007-that viewers still want to pay a lump sum for content they can view on regular TV. YouTube, meanwhile, has cobbled together a mix of user-generated content, music videos, and quirky original programming-think millennial-centric channels like Smosh and HolaSoyGerman-that account for more than 1 billion hours of viewing per day, almost on par with all of traditional television programming put together. The billions that Netflix and Amazon have shelled out on original programming have helped them attract subscribers while freeing them from dependency on other media conglomerates. ![]() If Silicon Valley’s motto is “Move fast and break things,” Hulu’s is “Move gently and slightly modify things.” It won’t mean vanquishing the tech giants who have hit Hulu’s owners where it hurts, luring away their once-loyal viewers. We’re not out on an island here.” Hopkins and his backers are careful to temper expectations about what success would look like. “We’re able to tap into their brainpower. “We’re lucky in that we’ve got four of the biggest media companies on the planet invested in us and wanting us to succeed,” says Mike Hopkins, Hulu’s CEO and a former Fox exec. But Hulu’s live product should have an edge thanks to its user-friendliness and the sheer depth of its offerings, because it will combine live TV with its extensive, preexisting archives of network shows. It won’t be the first Internet-based live-TV offering: Players like Google’s YouTube and AT&T’s DirecTV already compete in that arena, and others are suiting up to join them. It’s the company’s most ambitious undertaking to date, with a user experience at its core that’s made intuitive and personalized by savvy deployment of artificial intelligence. It will cost just under $40 a month, significantly less than most viewers’ cable packages. Sometime in May, Hulu will introduce a package of live-television programming, delivered over the Internet in real time to TVs (via “over the top” gadgets like Apple TV) and mobile devices. That-and not much more-has been its promise.īut the company’s soon-to-launch new service could change Hulu’s image-and open up a new front in the battle over streaming media. Missed the last episode of Modern Family? For $8 a month, you can watch it on Hulu. It’s a go-to source for “catch-up” TV but not for original programming. The privately held Hulu has about 12 million subscribers and is reportedly worth roughly $6 billion-making it one-eighth as big as Netflix and one-tenth as valuable. Hulu’s hybrid nature and its hesitance to shake up its parents’ business models help explain why it’s currently the “oh, yeah, I forgot about them” player in streaming services. Those corporate roots set Hulu apart from its purely techie rivals, and that’s something all the piñatas in the world can’t conceal. And the Hulugans’ paychecks essentially come from companies whose histories predate the dawn of Netflix and the iPhone: 21st Century Fox, NBCUniversal, the Walt Disney Co., and Time Warner-the entertainment giants that own Hulu. The site is the on-demand viewing hub for the programs those networks already distribute for big bucks elsewhere. Hulu, by contrast, is trying to save one: the exclusive club of legacy TV networks. After all, that show’s characters and Hulu’s staff have something in common: For all their new-economy trappings, both owe their existence to old-school media conglomerates.īut at least the show’s fictitious startup, Pied Piper, is actually trying to develop a “killer app” that will revolutionize an industry. If it sounds like a scene out of HBO’s Silicon Valley, that’s perfectly appropriate. ![]() Colleagues give each other “Hudos” to commend one another on a job well done (they’re a virtual currency that can be redeemed for gift cards and charitable donations). Follow Hulugans around, and you’ll see them optimizing search algorithms and analyzing minute design details-on a recent day the topic of conversation was a virtually imperceptible change of hue in the company’s green logo. Just as at Google, employees have their own geeky nickname, Hulugans (new workers are dubbed Nulugans), and wear the obligatory uniform of T-shirts, jeans, and sneakers. The video-streaming service’s headquarters in Santa Monica have the feel of a startup’s command center: They’re colorful and communal, with luxuriously stocked snack stations, ridiculously named conference rooms (“1203 FluffyPanda Place”), and throwback mini-arcade. Life-size effigies of Homer, Marge, and the rest of the Simpsons family? Also check. ![]()
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