Hulu heading to mobile phones?
by Brad Linder, posted Apr 17th 2008 2:27PM
The CEO of Hulu is dropping hints that the web video platform could be headed to non-PC devices including mobile phones. The move shouldn't come as a huge surprise, since Hulu is no more locked down than the BBC's iPlayer service which is now available on Windows, Mac, Linux, and Nintendo Wii systems. Broadcasting & Cable reports that Hulu CEO Jason Kilar says some devices like mobile phones are "ripe" for Hulu. That's all well and good, but seriously what I really want to see is Hulu integration with Windows Media Center and set top boxes that will let users watch TV programs on their TV. I know the trendy thing among TV execs these days is to try to figure out how to harness the internet as a new platform for displaying programming that's already available on the television. But for people like me who would rather pay for broadband internet than cable television, Hulu would make an excellent backup to my HDTV digital antenna.
In fact, the networks would probably make more money off of me if they gave me an easy way to watch Hulu on my TV set than they're making right now. Because currently when I want to watch a show, I set up a recording on my PVR. Then I skip the commercials when I watch it. You can't skip the commercials with Hulu, but I'm willing to sit through them if my PVR missed a recording or if my digital antenna was on the fritz.

3 Comments