TheCodeisBosco posted...
They're adding games? Whoa, that's actually pretty cool. Hulu+ might not kill Netflix just yet!
I love Hulu and have Hulu+ and never once thought they were anywhere close to challenging, let alone killing, Netflix. If you're a movie lover Hulu is pretty hit-or-miss. Even if a movie you love gets on Hulu, it may not be there when you actually want to watch it.
If you're a TV-lover, you are limited to the three major networks and the cable channels they are associated with. Anything other than ABC/NBC/Fox and their close affiliates is unrepresented. No CBS/HBO/Showtime. And those last two, well, they are often the big dogs in dvd show rentals.
So right now Hulu is basically an alternative to a cable television subscription. On the other-hand, Netflix is the alternative to an old-school video store account. Disney (ABC) owns a huge chunk of Hulu but you can't get Toy Story off of Hulu. You might get at least one (or all) of them off of Netflix.
At this point, the different goals of each company involved with Hulu and their insistence of making as much now as possible keeps them from fully utilizing Hulu. There's a ton of content that could, even should, be on the service that isn't because it's really used as a promotional tool for the service (cable) that is dying hard right now. Hulu is really "well, you won't pay for our traditional delivery methods and we won't give them up, so here's a compromise of sorts." On the other hand Netflix has been "you'd pay for traditional delivery methods but more convenient ones exist too." And they are more consistent in what they can deliver.
This split may actually be bad for them. I think, honestly, it's a chance for them to create a forward-thinking company and a past-trends company. One that will take advantage of going forward and one that will eventually be destroyed by catering to people who resist change. In other words, they see loses coming in the future and refuse to take them on small gains today. Quickster is, in essence, a way to write off the loses Netflix would have to face when the day comes that people don't care about physical media for rental.
Meanwhile, Hulu doesn't care much about trends at all. They aren't worried that old revenue streams will dry up or that new ones will be opened. They exist to cater to what they believe is and will be a small segment of the market that is looking for an alternative venue. ABC, NBC, and Fox don't think that their cable broadcasts are going anywhere, but at the least they're willing to hedge their bets.
Gamefly is the only company to be impacted by this news. in the end. Netflix getting into video games is bad for them and they're already in a bad position.
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"Principally I hate and detest the animal called man, although I heartily love John, Peter, Thomas and so forth" - Jonathan Swift
BT with the victory!