Webware

Hulu has quickly become one of the leaders in online video. Providing professional content from major networks and movie studios, the site has welcomed millions across the U.S. who want to watch streams of their favorite shows or movies online.

I'm certainly one of them. But after catching up on Battlestar Galactica and watching the same five episodes of The Office over and over again to memorize Dwight Schrute's lines, I'm left wanting more.

That's why I've compiled this list of five television shows that I'd like to see added to Hulu.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Curb Your Enthusiasm creator and star, Larry David, co-created Seinfeld with Jerry Seinfeld. And although this show doesn't quite live up to the popularity Jerry's show did, it's easily one of the funniest shows on television and one that I would watch every day if it was available on Hulu.

Curb takes you through the trials and tribulations of being Larry David. He's a rude, abrasive person who has little respect for anyone or anything. But it doesn't matter--his total disregard for people's feelings and his penchant for arguments makes the show a winner. Adding it to Hulu makes perfect sense. It's an HBO show--a network that Hulu currently doesn't partner with (but should)--and its cult following could help the site capture an even larger audience. I don't see any downside.

Seinfeld

What can be said about Seinfeld that hasn't already been discussed by its millions of fans and countless pundits? Seinfeld is, in my opinion, the funniest sitcom ever created and its cast of characters was second to none.

A show about nothing, it took some time for Seinfeld to captivate audiences. But when it did, they were taken by off-the-wall stunts, strange characters (George Costanza was based on Larry David), and hilarious story lines. Perhaps that's why I simply don't understand why NBC, one of the main companies backing Hulu, doesn't feature one of its most popular sitcoms of all time on its own online video service. Maybe it's contractual or maybe NBC suits don't want to offer it for free if they think they can incur more revenue on DVD sales, but bringing Seinfeld to Hulu would, in my mind, make the video site a more compelling service.

The Sopranos

Another huge HBO hit, The Sopranos is one of my favorite series and probably the show I'd most like to see on Hulu.

The Sopranos follows the life of mobster, Tony Soprano, but it doesn't inundate the viewer with scenes of mob violence, though there is quite a bit of that. Instead, The Sopranos uses Tony's family and psychology as the backbone of the story and employs the Mafia angle to provide color and drama as needed. Suffice it to say that The Sopranos is more about sociology and human interaction than the Mob. But one aspect of the show that probably keeps Hulu away is the profanity and sexual content--it's everywhere. Look for age verification if it ever gets to Hulu.

Sportscenter

Putting Sportscenter on Hulu seems like the logical next step for the video streaming service. Except, of course, that Sportscenter is broadcast on ESPN, which is owned by ABC--a company that has yet to partner with Hulu. But that shouldn't stop us from wanting the premier sports news show on television to make its way to Hulu.

Sportscenter is the single source for daily sports highlights and with so many rebroadcasts each day, it's conceivable that you'll see the same show three or four times in just a few hours and never tire of it. That's the kind of viewer Hulu needs and I don't know of any other show besides Sportscenter that could provide it.

The Wonder Years

Am I alone in thinking that The Wonder Years was one of the best television shows of the past 15 years? I thought it was poignant, funny, and most importantly, real. Yet I can't find it anywhere on DVD and as far as I know, it might never be released due to contract disputes. But that shouldn't stop it from coming to Hulu.

The Wonders Years is easily one of my favorite shows of all time. Following the formative years of Kevin Arnold, the show's viewers were able to relive teenage years that were rife with uncertainty, misunderstanding, puppy love, and a strong desire for whatever the future might hold. Its writing was superb, its acting even better. The Wonder Years was, to both children and adults alike, a tale of life. I'd like nothing more than to be able to immerse myself in that world just one more time on Hulu. And I'm willing to bet its cult following is right there with me.

ABC TV has apparently embraced the mantra of giving users content when, where, and how they want it.

While Disney-ABC digital media EVP Albert Cheng's keynote speech at Streaming Media West last week at the San Jose Convention Center was laden with PR spin ("first," "most," "great"), he also fessed up that as little as three years ago the network was debating internally whether to even stream shows online. Today, the network of Desperate Housewives, Lost, and Ugly Betty has taken on a strategy of ubiquity.

ABC intends to give viewers control of their viewing experience on any platform, Cheng said. The network is already showing its shows on everything from Facebook to AOL and Veoh, and plans soon to launch a new video player on its own site. This month ABC launched its "Open ABC" initiative, giving access to developers who will "innovate and give access to our shows (in ways) we haven't even thought of yet," such as new forms of 3D visual search and other applications for blogs, fan sites, and social networks.

"ABC isn't just a television brand," he said. "It's a content brand living on any device, and tailored specifically to the consumer and advertiser needs, and optimized for each specific use case and digital platform."

The network's new video player, he said, will offer full screen viewing, enhanced navigation, content recommendations, closed captioning, and embedability. To that last point, we saw a mockup of ABC shows running embedded in the NBC/Fox-owned Hulu, but Cheng ducked out before we could ask him about it. The player will offer other content sharing tools, such as allowing sending of programming to friends and social-networking sites. One feature we haven't seen elsewhere: sharers can specify at what point in the video the shared show will start to play.

Cheng said the network had been the first on iTunes, the first to stream entire shows online, the first to stream in a "720p" format in HD, had the most views of its shows of any network online and continues to lead in attracting unique users, in page views and time spent per user, compared with other networks' sites. And, he said, ABC found that rather than cannibalizing TV viewership, giving away the shows online instead enhances it.

He acknowledged that despite all the openness, some consider ABC's strategy to be largely closed, because it requires viewers to watch in the ABC player, and, of course to watch the ads. "I'm surprised when people talk about our video distribution approach as a closed strategy," he said. "But we're not going to surrender control in a way that surrenders the brand or doesn't support our business."

Digital media industry expert and analyst Dorian Benkoil is the founder of Teeming Media, and the host of media business show Naked Media.

Hey, Facebook users: Put down those virtual hamburgers. It's time to talk politics.

The New York Times reported Monday that Facebook and ABC News are close to announcing an agreement to collaborate on political coverage. The two will co-sponsor debates for both parties in New Hampshire shortly before the presidential primaries, and Facebook members will be able to "follow" ABC reporters and interact with news content in a special "U.S. Politics" category.

The Times article fails to mention that ABC is actually a bit late to the game here. CNN has co-sponsored debates with Google's YouTube, and Facebook rival MySpace has an ongoing series of "dialogues" with candidates that it has organized in conjunction with MTV.

What makes the ABC deal different is that it's with Facebook; not only is it the hottest name in social networking these days, but the young company has a history of inking few formal partnerships (the Microsoft equity stake aside), instead relying on its third-party developer platform and advertiser-sponsored pages for "content."

The Times article notes that the ABC-Facebook deal apparently was money-free.

But ABC News doesn't seem to have caught onto the fact that Facebook's user base sees the site as a platform for social recreation, not information consumption. None of the front-runners in the list of most popular third-party applications on the site deal with politics or news--instead, they include Flixster's movie rating application, Slide's "Top Friends," iLike's music app, and the woefully addicting Scrabulous.

And while the Times article pointed out that a "One Million Strong for Barack Obama" group has gathered over 164,000 members on Facebook, it left out the fact that a similar group devoted to the fleeting candidacy of comedian Stephen Colbert actually did pull in over a million members--in a week's time.

Facebook might have 56 million users, many of whom are gleefully hooked on the site, but when some of the most popular pastimes include turning your friends into virtual zombies and rallying around a gag presidential candidate, a news organization might be slightly skeptical about just how much attention it'll snag. (Hey, Facebook addicts: When was the last time you actually watched ABC News?)

That's not to say that Facebook users are apathetic. Many applications devoted to charity and environmental awareness have become extremely popular; maybe not as popular as SuperPoke, but noticeable nonetheless. And the Events and Groups features have made it a whole lot easier to spread the word among the site's young user base. Presidential politics, unfortunately, doesn't fit the viral-time-waster mold quite as well. I can't see my friends reacting positively to a notification that reads, "poke"-style, "Caroline McCarthy has filibustered you."

Maybe ABC News can pull it off--who knows, anyway?--but I'm skeptical.

Lost: looking good online.

(Credit: 2007 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.)

Among the networks, ABC.com has been one of the most aggressive in terms of streaming full versions of its shows online after they've aired on TV. During those quieter moments at work--some call them smoking breaks without the smoking--you can watch episodes of Lost, Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty, and more, right on your computer screen. Until a few days ago, however, the picture was rather small. Now ABC.com has launched a new full-screen "HD-quality" video player, and the "broadcast" looks shockingly good.

Meanwhile, NBC also has spruced up its online video player, and it, too, has added a full-screen option. The big difference is that NBC's video player uses Adobe's Flash Video, while ABC's is built on technology from upstart Move Networks.

During a "break," CNET editors John Falcone and Matthew Moskovciak huddled around my 19-inch Sony monitor in my office for a quick look at a recent Lost episode and were duly impressed. The picture may not quite measure up to true hi-def, but step a few feet back, and you're looking at a very detailed, sharp image. It's the kind of moment that makes you think that someday you'll be able to ditch your cable or satellite provider and get your content from cheaper sources that also happen to be legal. What a concept.

For a more in-depth story on ABC.com and its video player, go to broadcastingcable.com.

Source: Broadcasting & Cable

Via: AVS Forum