Why Hulu is the best video service on the Web

Video is the next big thing on the Web, and more and more organizations are embracing it as the way to provide an equal experience for Web surfers who don't necessarily have the time to watch television during the day.

But for all the video services, and there are many, Hulu easily stands above the rest and provides us with the best programming and experience. Call me a cynic, but watching the junk on YouTube or the ridiculous garbage on Funny or Die just doesn't do it for me. Instead, I prefer to enjoy professional programming in a way that has never been allowed before.

But the beauty of Hulu goes far beyond programming. Hulu is real proof that the entertainment industry is slowly coming around to the idea of embracing the Web and not being afraid of it, and proves a point I've been making all along: most people are honest and are more than willing to do the right thing to enjoy their favorite shows.

Hulu is the first example of how to overcome the debilitating crossroads that we're now standing in and has shown with each passing day that where there's great programming and a free service, people will flock.

Programming
Hulu's programming may not be perfect, but it certainly eclipses any other video service on the Web. Where else can you find legitimate episodes of The Office, Battlestar Galactica, Family Guy, and Law & Order without needing to drop a few bucks or search through a programming guide to find out when it's coming on again?

With just a few simple clicks of your mouse, you're able to watch the show you missed last night (in most instances) and only sit through a handful of short commercials to do it. Now that's what I call a bargain.

But Hulu's programming goes far beyond just good TV shows. The service has countless offerings available at any time and its movie selection, although brutally unbearable just a few weeks ago, is starting to improve each day and now offers some hits like The Karate Kid, Men in Black, and The Fifth Element. Sure, they may not be The Godfather, but it's certainly a good step and a much better set of movies than those that originally launched with the site.

Networks
As much as I've taken television and film studios to task for the way they (mis)treat viewers, I can't help but applaud their efforts with Hulu. For the first time, these studios finally embraced the Web and have realized that there is a world outside the box sitting in a living room.

According to analytics retrieved from Compete.com, Hulu is currently enjoying unbelievable growth and has almost broken the top 1,000 list of most popular sites. Even better for the service, its inventory of ads is already filled and the demand for advertising on Hulu has outstripped supply.

Of course, the reasons for this are numerous and generally revolve around the fact that the programming is controlled and the demographics of viewers can be retrieved quite easily. But that doesn't downplay the fact that Hulu has quickly become an incredibly popular service because of the quality of its programming and the trust studios have placed in it.

And it's that trust that these studios need to remember when they consider the impact the Web will continue to have on their business models. Sure, television is still the key to their success and still brings in more revenue that Web programming ever has, but the future of programming is online and by getting a jump start on it now, they're readying themselves for the future.

But trust goes far beyond believing in a service and believing that it can adequately address the desires of consumers. Hulu should have also promoted a sense of trust in consumers, who have proven beyond reasonable doubt that they're more than happy to spend time watching shows on the service, rather than illegally download them. That's not to say that illegal downloads have stopped or that they won't be a part of the future, but Hulu's success does highlight one important point: if you give consumers what they want--high-quality programming for free on the Web--they will return the favor by watching the shows and allow you to reap the rewards in advertising revenue.

Unlike any other video service on the Web, Hulu has been able to capture the desire of viewers and create a product that delivers on everything we would want. And although I'd still like to see better movies and more episodes of popular shows would be ideal, Hulu is easily the best in the market and deserves to hold its place as the best video service on the Web.

Check out Don's Digital Home podcast, Twitter feed, and FriendFeed.

[Jack_and_Coke]

I madly love Hulu as well, and they are one of the few that can actually make money out of their efforts. I like this report about how YouTube is ruined because it tackles the issues as to why YouTube won't be able to monetize their massive user base.

[ThreeMilesNorth]

Hulu is definitely the best, and It's only going to get better... The ads are interestingly pleasant--not annoying at all. I hope they can keep it clean. Cheers for Hulu!

[gdelrio]

Hulu is def among the top tier of video on the web, but Fancast.com had plenty to offer and building up as well. I'm looking forward to seeing how the battle pans out - regardless, it's going to be great for the fans

[Khaled A.]

Its useless in the rest of the world and the networks will take a very very long time to even consider international users. Look at veoh.com, they made some big deals with ABC etc and they limited their visitors to 30ish countries.

I had limited hulu experience, Dr. Horrible is probably the only show there that is international..

[aztec92154]

I LOVE HULU!!!! :-)

[Zen-Masta]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9970961-7.html
To quote myself:
by Zen-Masta June 17, 2008 2:01 PM PDT
Hulu is the BOMB. Seriously, a legitimate site that lets you watch whole movies or tv episodes? Plus lots of the illegitimate sites link to it rather than hosting the videos themselves. All I have to say is, keep up the good work. Certain popup blockers disable the advertisements on hulu. I don't mind advertisements sometimes, what really ticks me off though is volume irregularity. I'd consider turning the ads back on if they promised to not to spike the sound on ads. Whenever I watch live tv (rare these days) I mute commercials.

[ofmyony]

I enjoy the service more than any cable experience ever. They let you have control and make the user experience a joy! Subscribing to content is great, being able to watch the content when you want is also great. Having all the content in one place is very nice or being able to find the content in one place with links is smart! Hopefully Hulu gets credit for the hits and not the networks.

With HD content coming aboard I see the cable model slowly losing ground, There is a lot of unwatchable content on cable and why would anyone want to pay for such a bloated service. You pay for it then have to watch the commercials too, absurd. Why not spend your money where it pays, Hook up your computer too your 50 inch hi-def tv via hdmi and see a better computer signal and a very nice hd picture, abc, cbs hulu and others offer very nice quality even on large sets and its only going to get better.

Support Hulu by watching, Why pay cable and internet when you can have everything on the web. Cable television had it's run but there is a smarter choice and it's Hulu and others like it like Netflix watch now which I enjoy to supplement Hulu.

[cporpheus]

Hulu is a good response to casual piracy, too. Let's not forget that.

[docster87]

I would rather PAY for such service and OWN what shows I watch (like iTunes). With iTunes I can watch the videos on my desktop & laptop without always on internet, as well as putting videos on my phone and even watching them on TV. Hulu doesn't allow portable videos and unless your computer is directly feeding to the TV - well Hulu doesn't allow TV viewing. NBC=Greed, so just keep loving Hulu as the ads keep being piled on while NBC tools it into a beast no one will like at some point.

[Dalkorian]

My sentiments exactly. NBC - Nothing But Commercials.

[22mojom22]

Wow. Who pissed in your corn flakes this morning?