Media Meditation 8

Stupid Name, Good Service

Hulu is somthing that has become very valuable to me now that I am in college. I simply do not have the time, or often, the channels to watch many shows when they run. However, with Hulu, I can watch them whenever I have the time, and I don't have to deal with nearly as many commercials. Since I have DVI connectors on both my TV and laptop, I can even watch them on a real TV.

Its been really great, because there is no way I would be able to keep up with a show like Stargate:Universe, which runs on a Friday night without sacrificing activities with friends. Hulu frees you from having to follow the schedule dictated by a network, and it brings the TV to wherever you are, so long as you have an internet connection. I never worry about missing shows anymore, aside from certain ones that aren't available on Hulu like the new Clone Wars show.

I really think this is the future of TV. Americans live busy lives, and they seem to just be getting busier. If TV is going to be able to survive, it needs to leverage the internet to provide a different medium for people to view it through. The only hurdle is how to deal with syndication in an environment like this. That is how people and networks really make money off of shows, and how can they do this when people can watch a show anytime, anywhere? I can't see places like Hulu staying entirely free forever, for just this reason. Soon, they are gonna need to find a way to make money that isn't just ads.