Would a UK version of Hulu suck us dry?

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COMMENT: Success in the web television game, particularly when large multinational corporations are involved, is still something of a dark art - no one, not even Microsoft, has managed to create a 100 per cent effective model for getting it right yet.

The coveted “perfect model” is further complicated by an infinite amount of quasi-legal sites that stream pretty much every television programme known to man for free, and in relatively decent quality too. There are also no adverts, something people seem to really prefer.

That said, Hulu has come quite close. The company, which is a joint venture between News Corp, Disney and NBC Universal, has enjoyed moderate success in the US with 40 million viewers watching nearly 396 million videos per month. However, news earlier this month (check out our sister title PC Pro’s report here) suggested that Hulu is set for an expansion, and the UK is its “number one priority,” according to its vice president Johannes Larcher,

While Mr. Larcher et al may be keen to cash in on the void left by BBC Worldwide, ITV, and Channel 4’s proposed VoD service Project Kangaroo, - which was shot down by the Competition Commission earlier this year - there are still some rather pressing issues facing such the expansion of Hulu, particularly in the UK.

Hulu, as we have established, is quite successful in the US, which is all well and good. The service does sound attractive, and certainly boasts an extensive catalogue of shows.

However, what Hulu, and indeed any of its peers, may have over looked in the apparent joy of spreading globally, is this rather sad, and depressing fact: Compared to America, where the internet infrastructure was recently crowned fourth best in the world by The Global Information Technology Report, the UK isn’t very good.

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