Hulu deals Boxee a harsh jab
By Dave Jeyes
First Hulu asked TV.com to remove its content and now the rising star in online video has asked startup media center developer Boxee to do the same. Hulu places responsibility for the move on the content owners, but is still taking heat from Boxee users.
Hulu is a joint venture between NBC and Fox parent company News Corp that is just now closing in on its first year of existence. The companies banded together to devise a way of competing with YouTube in the online video space.
The first year of Hulu’s existence has been somewhat of a Cinderella story in the online video space. It’s the first upstart to break into Comscore’s ranking of the top ten online video properties, which is flush with Web heavyweights and top media companies.
The online video space is growing rapidly, with total video views in December up 13 percent month over month. Google’s YouTube still dominates the space with 41 percent market share.
Hulu CEO Jason Kilar posted on the company’s blog, shifting blame to his content providers for forcing the shutdown. His tone only helps to soften the tone of frustration and disappointment from Boxee fans commenting on the post.
Boxee will still stream content from other providers including ABC, CBS, CNN, Comedy Central and Netflix. However users will no longer have access to Hulu’s content encompassing Fox, NBC and a number of movies.
This is the second blow to Boxee’s business model by larger companies seeking to throw their weight around. Apple has moved to prevent Boxee from being installed on its Apple TV boxes.
What these larger corporations are forgetting is that on the Web, openness and community are key aspects of a company’s long term success. By cutting off Boxee users, Hulu and its content providers are actually losing access to an audience and working hard to alienate their fans.
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