hulu!
This week I got an invitation to join the private beta of Hulu. If you've not heard about it, it's sort of a cross between YouTube (or, it will be) and Amazon Unbox. It's main attraction is that you can watch full episodes of many popula TV shows including 24, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, House, Heroes, Family Guy, The Office, Journeyman...and lots more. It's a joint venture between NBC Universal and News Corporation so you'll see shows from the NBC and FOX lineups, as well as their subsidiaries like Sci-Fi and FX (full disclosure: I'm employed at GE Healthcare, sister business of NBC Universal within General Electric).
The site is pretty sweet. I love the fact that when I log in, the welcome screen shows a splash for Firefly. I'm not sure if that's because I've watched an episode of Firefly before or if that's getting pushed to all users in the beta, but either way that's pretty cool if you, like me, are a Fireflyvangelist.
Did I mention the site is free? At least, it is now. I've not heard what their business model will be. During th private beta, there are limited commercials. For example, during the two-hour (1:30 actual runtime) Firefly pilot, Serenity, there are five 30-second commercials. Not bad for getting to watch the show for free. They seem to be placed at commercial-appropriate inappropriate times and they show up as little white dots in the progress bar, indicating in advance when they are coming.
Besides full episodes, there are also episode clips. I'm not entirely sure how these are generated. For BSG, it seems that the clips on Hulu available on SciFi.com. I'm thinking that these will eventually be user-generated, as the video sharing part of site is pretty much non-existent during the beta.
There are a couple of downsides. Old seasons are not available. Generally, I think that means that seasons available on DVD for shows currently on the air are not up. So, the only season of BSG available is Season 3. Second, it truly is a private beta, meaning that I have no way o inviting anyone, at least not yet. Sorry. You can sign up at the website and you'll get an invitation "when they're ready for you." Not quite sure what that means.
Finally, a nice thing about the site is that, like YouTube, you have the ability to embed their videos elsewhere. So, just because I can, here are two excellent videos. Enjoy!
Battlestar Galactica Season 4 Trailer:
Firefly, Episode 1: "Serenity"
ETA: Sorry, I should have mentioned that at least for now, the vids are only available to viewers within the US.
The site is pretty sweet. I love the fact that when I log in, the welcome screen shows a splash for Firefly. I'm not sure if that's because I've watched an episode of Firefly before or if that's getting pushed to all users in the beta, but either way that's pretty cool if you, like me, are a Fireflyvangelist.
Did I mention the site is free? At least, it is now. I've not heard what their business model will be. During th private beta, there are limited commercials. For example, during the two-hour (1:30 actual runtime) Firefly pilot, Serenity, there are five 30-second commercials. Not bad for getting to watch the show for free. They seem to be placed at commercial-appropriate inappropriate times and they show up as little white dots in the progress bar, indicating in advance when they are coming.
Besides full episodes, there are also episode clips. I'm not entirely sure how these are generated. For BSG, it seems that the clips on Hulu available on SciFi.com. I'm thinking that these will eventually be user-generated, as the video sharing part of site is pretty much non-existent during the beta.
There are a couple of downsides. Old seasons are not available. Generally, I think that means that seasons available on DVD for shows currently on the air are not up. So, the only season of BSG available is Season 3. Second, it truly is a private beta, meaning that I have no way o inviting anyone, at least not yet. Sorry. You can sign up at the website and you'll get an invitation "when they're ready for you." Not quite sure what that means.
Finally, a nice thing about the site is that, like YouTube, you have the ability to embed their videos elsewhere. So, just because I can, here are two excellent videos. Enjoy!
Battlestar Galactica Season 4 Trailer:
Firefly, Episode 1: "Serenity"
ETA: Sorry, I should have mentioned that at least for now, the vids are only available to viewers within the US.