Iris
Apr 30, 2009, 03:00 PM
Cool! ;)
Disney joins NBC and News Corp. with Hulu stake
AP
Complete Story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090430/ap_on_en_tv/us_disney_hulu
By RYAN NAKASHIMA
Ap Business Writer – Thu Apr 30, 3:36 pm ET
LOS ANGELES – Disney movies and ABC TV shows will be available on Hulu.com now that Walt Disney Co. is taking an equity stake in the popular video streaming site, joining its founders, NBC Universal and News Corp.
The deal announced Thursday will bring older Disney movies to the site, along with ABC and Disney Channel shows such as "Lost," "Grey's Anatomy" and "Wizards of Waverly Place" after they run on TV. Disney hopes to gain new online viewers that it does not already capture on ABC.com and pick up new income from sharing ad revenue on Hulu.
The new setup also brings the owners of three of the four major broadcast networks — ABC, NBC and Fox — into a fight for online eyeballs against the video streaming site TV.com, which CBS Corp. acquired last year when it bought CNet Networks Inc. for $1.8 billion. In February, Hulu pulled all its content from TV.com.
Another rival is Google Inc.'s YouTube, which is trying to become more than a repository for clips uploaded by the general public. It recently launched a "Shows" section with older movies and TV episodes from partners Sony Corp., Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., CBS Corp., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and Liberty Media Corp.
Disney has a deal to provide short-form ESPN and ABC content to YouTube. But in general, ABC, NBC and Fox now will be pitting their premium material against YouTube.
"It's an extremely big blow to YouTube," said Gartner Inc. research vice president Allen Weiner.
Hulu ranks as the No. 4 online video site in the U.S., with 41.6 million viewers of its videos in March, according to tracking firm comScore.
Disney joins NBC and News Corp. with Hulu stake
AP
Complete Story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090430/ap_on_en_tv/us_disney_hulu
By RYAN NAKASHIMA
Ap Business Writer – Thu Apr 30, 3:36 pm ET
LOS ANGELES – Disney movies and ABC TV shows will be available on Hulu.com now that Walt Disney Co. is taking an equity stake in the popular video streaming site, joining its founders, NBC Universal and News Corp.
The deal announced Thursday will bring older Disney movies to the site, along with ABC and Disney Channel shows such as "Lost," "Grey's Anatomy" and "Wizards of Waverly Place" after they run on TV. Disney hopes to gain new online viewers that it does not already capture on ABC.com and pick up new income from sharing ad revenue on Hulu.
The new setup also brings the owners of three of the four major broadcast networks — ABC, NBC and Fox — into a fight for online eyeballs against the video streaming site TV.com, which CBS Corp. acquired last year when it bought CNet Networks Inc. for $1.8 billion. In February, Hulu pulled all its content from TV.com.
Another rival is Google Inc.'s YouTube, which is trying to become more than a repository for clips uploaded by the general public. It recently launched a "Shows" section with older movies and TV episodes from partners Sony Corp., Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., CBS Corp., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and Liberty Media Corp.
Disney has a deal to provide short-form ESPN and ABC content to YouTube. But in general, ABC, NBC and Fox now will be pitting their premium material against YouTube.
"It's an extremely big blow to YouTube," said Gartner Inc. research vice president Allen Weiner.
Hulu ranks as the No. 4 online video site in the U.S., with 41.6 million viewers of its videos in March, according to tracking firm comScore.