Date: 03-13-2008
News Corp. and NBC Universal’s online video baby went live on March 12 with free full-length TV shows and more than 100 movies in its content library from deals with Warner Bros., Lionsgate, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The new site is called Hulu and is available at www.hulu.com. The site, which is slated to be the biggest rival yet to YouTube, has received generally positive responses and even some rave reviews from users of the beta version that was launched in October of last year. The site’s features will include a “self-selected targeting” advertising model which will put online users in control of the ads shown along with the videos. Around 5 million viewers visited the site last month, and about 80% of the site’s entire library is viewed every seven days, a favorable sign for programming partners, according to analysts.