So the other day, I discovered Hulu, which is apparently a legit streaming TV service. A little digging around on the site verifies that it is "an online video joint venture of News Corp and NBC Universal." Essentially, it's an online repository of Fox and NBC shows, shows from associated cable networks (USA, Sci-Fi, etc.) with a few movies and specials thrown in for good measure.

Browsing quickly through the content, I see some titles I'm interested in, from current TV on back to programs from the 80s, such as:

• A-Team (season 1)
• Battlestar Galactica
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer (season 1)
• Family Guy
• Heroes
• House, MD
• Terminator - Sarah Connor Chronicles

They even have the entire runs of series that were cancelled despite being fan favorites, such as Journeyman, The Tick, Firefly, and all three seasons of Arrested Development.

It seems pretty cool, but surely there's a catch. I decided to find out, having wrangled an invite to the private beta from Roy (thanks!). Last night, Lori and I watched the episode of House MD that came on after the Superbowl, the one that no one's DVR recorded correctly.

The player itself is nice and works, which puts it above about 80% of media players offered by big networks. It plays in the browser window, in its own broken-out browser window, or in a full-screen mode, which is how we watched the episode. There are commercials during the playback, but they are short: one 30-second commercial per break, with the breaks coming where they do during broadcast. Hell, it takes 30 seconds to fast forward through the commercials on my DVR, so that wasn't bad. You can't skip over the commercials, but if you futz with the player while the commercial is on, it asks you to hit play before the show resumes, which is great for taking breaks during the commercials (if you just sit and let the commercial go by, the show resumes automatically). The quality on the show was superb, particularly for streaming video.

Also, another cool little feature: all of the show listings have RSS feeds associated with them, so you can subscribe to updates for when new episodes of your favorite shows are available. Funnily enough, this is even available for the cancelled shows. I think you'll be waiting a long time for updates if you subscribe to the Firefly feed, for instance.

I've got to say, based on this experience, Hulu seems to be a winner. It's still in private beta, so if you'd like to check it out for yourself, you'll need to wrangle an invite. I've got six to give away, so if you'd like one, ask for one in a comment and I'll send it to the e-mail address you put in.

Tags: hulu streaming tv video

Posted by Dan on February 15, 2008 10:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)