I want to formally suggest that we stop thinking of Hulu (and others like it) as online video and more as video on demand. Hulu competes with youtube in name only. The products are different. Hulu is selling video on demand. It competes with regular tv, timeshifted tv, dvds, and video on demand offerings from other sources (cable, netflix, etc).
Related: boxee is asking people to help them write their pitch to get Hulu back. Personally, I think too many of the users complain that the content owners should basically just give their shows away. They complain when there are more ads. They complain when they would have to pay for it. They talk about downloading shows as 'stealing' and make it sound like civil disobedience. I want free stuff as much as the next guy. But, I will not delude myself into thinking that because I know how to steal, it's ok. That's like walking into a bodega and stealing a pack of gum because the gum company was doing a free-sample promotion on the street the other day. These people are hurting their case and only making content owners more nervous about the internet.
Just to be clear, despite recently writing on the side of content owners, I do think that a lot of what they do is potentially not as valuable as it once was. The drop in costs of advertising and proliferation of outlets to reach consumers really should change the economics. It's hard to think that the networks were actually in the business of matching advertisers with receptive customers, rather than making the great content we've been enjoying for all our lives and selling it (that's the movie business). The content has always been a loss leader. If we accept that, it's lot easier to accept that people in production are probably overpaid. It's not as complicated as it once was: technology makes it easier to produce and the distribution is getting to be almost free. There is maybe not a good reason for an actor on a sitcom to make $1MM an episode in the future. Hopefully, the dropping cost of advertising leads to cheaper prices for our toilet paper. Though, it would probably also mean more scarce, and therefore an increased price for, good content.
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