Hulu Is Happiness (and Only a Click Away)

 

This is not a test anymore. Hulu, the NBC Universal/Fox joint venture that offers online streaming video of current and vintage TV shows and movies was launched Wednesday March 12, after months of beta testing. Simply typing in www.hulu.com brings anyone with a high-speed Internet connection to a vast selection of full-length movies, full episodes of TV shows new and old, and clips of any of the same, in case you’d rather watch your favorite fragment than the whole darn thing. 

 

Offerings currently include movies and TV shows from Fox, NBC Universal, Sony Pictures and MGM. Lionsgate and Warner Brothers TV Group titles will be added soon. For sports fans, there are highlights from NBA and NHL games, as well as full-length NCAA basketball games from the last 25 years. The content is available free and is ad-supported.

 

I spent some time today both at work (after hours, of course…) and at home cruising the site and I must say, this promises to be a first-rate time waster of the highest order. Don’t get me wrong, I mean that in the most complimentary way possible. The video selection, even on the first day, is varied and attractive. It’s easy to imagine this site becoming quite the habit for me, especially once I get a better computer and an even faster connection at home.

 

Hulu has made it easy to browse around the site and find what you’d like to view. Once you’ve selected either TV or movies, you can choose from lists of popular episodes or films, clips, or an alpha list, a list by genre, or a list by network (TV) or studio (movies). Movies include titles from the recent past like Little Miss Sunshine, Sideways, and The Devil Wears Prada; classics like The Birds and Miracle on 34th Street; and both clips and full-length films for movies from many of the years between.

 

For TV, choices range from vintage shows like The Addams Family, Dick Van Dyke Show and I Dream of Jeannie, to Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere, to current programs like House, Scrubs, My Name Is Earl, Bones and Prison Break.

 

In my initial viewing, I found several of my favorite series for which they offer full episodes, but nothing close to the full library of series episodes yet. House, for example, only has a few of this season’s (Season 4) episodes posted, and a few clips of shows current or past. Most of the House clips offered today are interviews with cast members. Other shows like The Practice had only full episodes and no clips.

 

I believe it is Hulu’s goal to eventually load up the full library of episodes of all the shows they offer, as well as have the favorite clips option available. That will no doubt be some time in coming. You can imagine what a mammoth undertaking it will be to assemble all that footage and then to dissect it into favored clips.

 

It’s also true that many of the media companies providing access to these shows require that their content be available free on the Web only for limited periods of time in order to protect DVD sales. Hulu will have to get over that hurdle if they want to offer a wide array of series episodes, or guarantee that the episode you watched and loved a few months ago will still be there when you want to watch it again.

 

Hulu plans eventually to recruit the other major networks, ABC and CBS, so that they have practically the whole universe of broadcast television offerings from which to choose. I would love to see them pursue more cable content (Rescue Me and Mad Men would be my first choices) and also explore offering great shows that were cancelled before their time. I was happy to seeJourneyman offered, but could we get shows like Brooklyn South or Studio 60? Also, why no West Wing?

 

In terms of movie selection, many of the titles are offered in their full-length version. If a user selects a movie that is R rated, a “This movie is intended for mature audience” warning pops up, and the user must register with Hulu to prove they are over 17 before being allowed access to that film. 

 

The viewing quality and experience is top-notch. The viewing screen that pops up is widescreen format. The video picture and sound are sharp and clear. The viewer came up without a problem, even on my antiquated computer at home. The clips ran flawlessly on my work computer, but were a tad herky-jerky on my home one. I blame that on my broadband connection at home, however, not on Hulu.

 

Advertising appears in the upper right corner of the area framing the screen throughout the viewing of the clip. In addition, the brand logo appears in the lower right corner of the video itself as it is airing, much like the “ghost logos” that appear when watching a show on broadcast or cable. Immediately after the chosen clip airs, a short commercial spot airs. I saw logos and spots for Chevy and Saturn.

 

Being the rabid TV fan that I am, I will definitely check in on Hulu from time to time. Given the better, quicker connection at my office and the beautiful picture and viewing experience that results from it, I expect I’ll be spending many a lunch break with Hulu in the coming months. Whether it becomes a habit, let alone a primary way for me to view programs and movies, remains to be seen. I love much of what I’ve seen so far. It could serve as a great way to catch a favorite current show that I missed, to look back on a former favorite I once loved, or to re-watch a favorite segment or skit. I also love how easy Hulu has made it to find what you are looking for, and the ease and quality of the viewing experience.

 

What I don’t like, at least as it appears today, is the smattering of episodes available. You may find one or two seasons of your show, but not the rest. You may find only clips for your show or film, not full-length episodes or features.

 

Lack of detail in show descriptions can be a problem too. Episode titles and brief descriptions are available, but unless you know the whole series cold, it’s hard to tell from just that brief description if an episode is really the one you’re looking for. For example, I looked through The Practice selections, trying to find any of the episodes in which Michael Emerson (currently on Lost) appeared. His performance in those episodes scared the living daylights out of me and made him unforgettable. I could not find a single one. Is this because his episodes weren’t part of the seasons available, or are they there and I just couldn’t tell from the description that was given? I don’t know.

 

Still, I’m willing to give this a go as a viewer. Hulu certainly has set up their format to give advertisers the chance to deliver their brand names to the audience in a way that YouTube does not. The commercial spot also comes up so fast after the clip chosen that it makes it difficult not to watch. This is all great, of course. But in the end, whether advertisers come to Hulu will hinge entirely on clients and buyers feeling confident that they can count on our eyeballs showing up and watching both the video and their message.