ABC and their biggest shareholder buying into 30% of Hulu

Quincy Pince-Nez
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April 30, 2009
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ABC is officially jumping on the Hulu bandwagon with the announcemnt of a 30% purchase in the entity.  While this is great for us Mac users who love Lost and other ABC programming, it is even better for those of us with an iPhone. 

Why?  Well Disney/ABC is buying a 30% stake in Hulu the company.  That means a certain someone who is Disney's biggest shareholder and board member will help direct the new entity.  That might make that iPhone Hulu app something more of a reality.  Well that's our hope anyway.  Officially:

Disney will receive three seats on the Hulu board, joining executives from NBC Universal, News Corp. and Providence. Disney said its seats will be held by Disney President and CEO[and Steve Jobs buddy] Robert Iger; Anne Sweeney, co-chair of Disney Media Networks and president of the Disney/ABC Television Group; and Kevin Mayer, executive vice president of corporate strategy, business development and technology.

 

Comments (11)

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | April 30, 2009 - 4:13pm

Hulu is a Flash site, no?

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | April 30, 2009 - 4:14pm

why is this better for us with iPhones? Hulu is a Flash site, no?

@ 9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | April 30, 2009 - 4:56pm

so was YouTube

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | April 30, 2009 - 5:10pm

Please note that HULU only streams to USA ISPs. Accordingly the rest of the world can't see the videos. Kind of goes against the concep of universal accessibility doesn't it. Perhaps your shouldn't be so positive about HULU given its USA-centric approach.

Str1f3 (not verified) | April 30, 2009 - 9:44pm

That is out of Hulu's hands. Every TV/movie content owner has separate negotiations with each country to display it's content because there is always an issue with who has the rights. It is the reason that it took so long for the TV/movies to appear in the iTunes around the world.

That being said this is very good news. There were rumors that NBC was thinking about leaving Hulu so I guess it won't happen since ABC was willing to buy in.

Hulu already said that they were developing an iPhone app. The only thing that is missing off Hulu is HD. I do hope they do this and build what may be the future of online television. I will gladly sit through a few commercials to watch the content.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | April 30, 2009 - 5:12pm

HULU only streams to the US. Given its USA-centric approach perhaps you shouldn't be such a fan.

LD (not verified) | April 30, 2009 - 7:31pm

Perhaps it sucks for you that we in the US get to watch programming made in the US.

MadDog (not verified) | May 01, 2009 - 12:28am

...for the US media companies that we'll continue getting our shows from torrents (and therefore no ad revenue for them) if they fail to provide non-US viewers with a legitimate means to watch those shows?

It's a bigger problem for them that it is for us.

MoonChaser (not verified) | April 30, 2009 - 7:43pm

I just hope they don't screw it up... I can't watch anything on ABC as they don't support my computer (Linux). Hulu will currently let me watch anything I want... If ABC changes the formatting of the videos on Hulu I may have to go back to less-than-completely-legitimate means of watching my favorite shows.

momoe (not verified) | May 01, 2009 - 10:20am

As a huge fan of British television, I would love to have the BBC iPlayer app on my US iPhone (or access via the web, for that matter), but alas, No.

Put pressure on the officials/executives responsible for US television licensing in your respective countries, so Hulu can open up to your markets.

momoe (not verified) | May 01, 2009 - 10:21am

As a huge fan of British television, I would love to have the BBC iPlayer app on my US iPhone (or access via the web, for that matter), but alas, No.

Put pressure on the officials/executives responsible for US television licensing in your respective countries, so Hulu can open up to your markets.