I'm sure most of you have heard by now from various sources about Hulu severing its ties to both Boxee and TV.com, stating their media providers are behind it.
The first thing that seems weird is that Hulu is owned by NBC and FOX. So when Hulu claims to be just as upset about this as Boxee is, and they blame it on their content providers, aren't they just pointing the finger at themselves?
The second thing that doesn't sit right is why anyone involved would want to do this. Honestly, I never got into Hulu until I was able to hack my Apple TV and watch it through Boxee. Now I use Hulu all the time. We were actually considering dropping our cable service and just watching Hulu on the television through the Boxee Apple TV hack. More and more Apple TV users seem to be doing this (by the way, Apple TV sales tripled last quarter). Other people who use media center PC's (whether Mac or Windows) also use Boxee to access Hulu, because it provides an easier way to operate the interface via remote control. Sure, Hulu's already been picking up steam on its own, but there are many of us who never cared until Boxee picked it up.
The important thing here is that when Hulu video is played through Boxee, it's still using Hulu's interface. More specifically, it's still showing Hulu's ads. Hulu's business model is 100% intact.
So why this change? Nobody knows. There's no benefit in this for anyone. It's stupid to restrict the number of people exposed to your ads, especially when your business model revolves around advertising. There seems to be no good reason for this move.
But I have a theory...
According to this Wall Street Journal article, cable companies are working with cable networks to provide subscribers access to the networks' content online. NBC is apparently one of the networks involved. FOX may be too, but I'm not sure (I don't subscribe to WSJ, so I can't read the entire article).
In other words, paying cable subscribers will have online access to network programming. Just like Hulu already does for free.
Finally it starts to make sense. The culprit isn't the content providers (the networks); it's the cable companies who are getting squeezed out when people like you and me are regularly using Hulu instead of paying a monthly fee. And in my opinion, this is why Hulu is being forced to sever its ties with Boxee and TV.com — so it can migrate its system into an authenticated, subscription model, eliminating free network content entirely.
I bet that if we don't see a paid-subscription model for Hulu soon, it'll end up being turned into a cable-company-fronted media repository — basically an extension of the "on demand" you already get with your cable box.
I fear the days of free Hulu are coming to a close. Hulu will still exist, but NBC & FOX will use it for this new "cable subscribers only" system.
One step forward, two steps back.
I keep hearing things in various places that fit this theory. I think you may be on to something.