This is big, big news for a culture where more and more entertainment comes from on demand services. Hulu announced today that it will be partnering with Disney to provide their content on the popular Hulu.com streaming service. The most notable aspect of this deal is that it will allow users to watch ABC content via Hulu, which is a pretty major about face for Disney. Previously, ABC has refused to allow its content to be streamed from anywhere other than its own site, where users can watch ABC shows such as Lost and Castle (the latter of which is a current TG office favorite).
The ABC content is a big addition for Hulu as it gives them an edge not only over other streaming services, but over torrent sites. ABCs show Desperate Housewives is the fourth-most torrented television show as of this week. But given the ease and convenience of Hulu over television and ABC’s own streaming site (which requires the installation of a proprietary codec), many of these downloaders will certainly choose to watch future episodes online, which will in turn create revenue for both Hulu and ABC via the advertisements that are interspersed in the episodes. Now if only episodes of television shows would be put online at the same time that they are broadcast.
