hulu

When cord-cutting is better than cable

When people ask me if they should "cut the cord" and cancel their cable subscription, I tend to focus on negatives. You're going to miss a lot of sports, reality TV, and live TV events -- even if you get free, over-the-air TV using an antenna.

That's all true, but it's easy to forget that sometimes the cord-cutting experience is just flat-out better than having cable. I was reminded of this after reading a quote by former NBC executive Jeff Gaspin at the end of Bill Carter's recent story about declining TV ratings in The New York Times:… Read more

The 404 1,044: Where we make May day (podcast)

Could you last a year without the Internet? It's not the first time we've heard of someone going off the grid, but a guy from The Verge has decided to spend the next year offline, so we'll challenge each other to do the same.

In other online news, Facebook has launched a new organ donor tool for Timeline that lets users add a life story to their profiles with a link to sign up for donation services in their area. Mark Zuckerberg went on ABC news and credited Steve Jobs as inspiration to use social networking to … Read more

Hulu's possible future: A playground for cable subscribers

It's looking like the jig may be up for Hulu as we know it. Rumor has it that the TV and video streaming service might be planning to switch from its free model to a plan that requires viewers to prove they pay for cable or satellite TV, according to the New York Post.

The purported new model is called "authentication" and would work by making users log into Hulu with cable or satellite TV account numbers in order to watch any show on the service -- essentially putting up a de facto pay wall around its … Read more

Netflix earnings today: It's nail-biting time

Reed Hastings is known for his cool demeanor but if there was ever a time the Netflix CEO may be chewing his fingernails, today is the day.

The mood is tense leading up to Netflix's first-quarter earnings report, scheduled for 1:05 p.m. PT today. The number of Wall Street analysts going bearish on Netflix appears to have risen in recent weeks. In early-morning trading, Netflix shares were down 3 percent, or more than $3, to $102.68.

Analysts expect the Web's top video-rental service to report a loss of 27 cents per share -- due in … Read more

Hulu racks up four more original shows

Hulu keeps scoring new original TV shows. With three already under its belt, the streaming service announced today that it will be adding four more original shows that will include some big name actors, according to TechCrunch.

The new shows come at the same that the streaming service is announcing that Hulu Plus has now hit 2 millions subscribers, according to TechCrunch. It had about 1.5 million subscribers in January, so that means that it has added a half-million people in the last four months.

The new shows -- "We Got Next," "The Awesomes," "… Read more

Xbox Live offering free entertainment this weekend

Xbox 360 owners who don't have Live Gold accounts can join in on some of the usual festivities this weekend.

From April 19 through April 23, Microsoft is runing a special promo dubbed "Entertainment Unlocked," offering all Xbox owners a taste of free music, TV shows, and movies.

Xbox users who log in during Microsoft's extended weekend will find free access to SyFy, Crackle, Epix, YouTube, Vevo, and other entertainment sites. Netflix and Hulu Plus are kicking in free 30-day trials. And other online providers will offer streaming music and movies.

The promo is obviously aimed … Read more

Hulu Plus hits 2 million subscribers, report says

Hulu Plus is starting to see stronger growth, according to a new report.

The online streaming service is slated to announce this week that it has hit 2 million paid subscribers for its Hulu Plus service, according to The New York Times.

If that is in fact the case, it would mean that Hulu Plus added 500,000 new subscribers in just the last four months and that its growth is accelerating.

"We grew the business 60 percent from 2010 to approximately $420 million in revenue" in 2011, Hulu CEO Jason Kilar said back in January while announcing … Read more

No, Comcast is not breaking the Internet...again

Comcast annoyed media activists last week by announcing it wouldn't count television programming retrieved through a customer's Xbox console against a monthly "excessive use" threshold for Internet access.

As with any change to existing Internet services -- even one that sounds like a good thing -- the response in Washington was to sound the doomsday alarm. "The reports that Comcast is offering a video product through the Xbox 360 without the data counting toward the customer's data cap," Public Knowledge said last week, "raises questions not only of the justification for the … Read more

Hulu Plus expands distribution via Android tablets

Hulu Plus, the subscription video service chasing Netflix, said today the service is now available on seven Android tablets.

Hulu is the company backed by NBC Universal, News Corp., and Disney that is trying to become as ubiquitous on popular hardware devices as Netflix, the top player in providing premium Web video.

Hulu said that the Android-equipped tablets that now support Hulu Plus are Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime, Asus Eee Pad Transformer, Motorola Xoom, Motorola XYBoard 10.1, Toshiba Thrive, Acer Iconia, and LG G-Slate.

The company said that it also rolled out "the new Hulu Plus app on Android, … Read more

Win-Win: Hulu's custom clips fight piracy and enable fans

Like many people, I often want to share a television or video scene with others. Unfortunately, finding quality clips of want you want can be hard. The good news is that Hulu has been making my life easier.

For example, The Office recently did a hilarious sendup of what it would be like if the fictional Sabre company tried to have its own stores like Apple. There was a great scene in which Dwight Schrute explains the importance of bloggers to the store's success on launch day.

His awesome rant: "For a tech company, … Read more