A Hulu Lulu

You know, I was initially 'anti' hulu (thought they were a direct competitor to youtube) however grew to love it...perhaps even willing to dish out micropayments (but of course..and I'm assuming micropayments would be one of its options) to its speculated 'premium' services..anyhoo/way, I found myself complaining to a friend who is a producer on a court tv show regarding the limited court tv content available on hulu. I work as a researcher for two of them and its really difficult to record/dvr/tivo without cable. I can do without cable as I hardly watch tv, but I do free fall into anxiety w/o a connection to the web.

I've always loved Hulu. It's a great service... for consumers. That said, like you, Dr. House, I can't imagine what the studios were thinking. At this point, I can't really see a great ending for Hulu. Consumers aren't at a point where they're going to start paying for video on the Internet, and this model can't be making much money for any of the parties involved. So I'm curious (though not eager) to see what Comcast does with Hulu. But I thought your point was interesting that it might not be in the company's best interest to do anything with it, considering the other partners. Hmmmmmmm.

Terry here's a link to an article that puts margins at 80%, cable operators charging $40 for something that cost them $8.  I have no idea whether he considers the cost of laying fiber and other front end outlays but worth a look.

Agreed, Chris... this deal will sail right through the regulatory approvals process; safe to assume there was already some back-channel conversation where the administration said it wouldn't object, or the deal would never have gotten this far.

I was surprised to read in a recent LA Times dissection of the deal a characterization of the cable TV business as "margin rich." Is this actually true? Anyone know what sort of percentages the average cable provider makes eith erper sub or in aggregate? I'd love to know it compares to the local telco biz or ISPs.

but all cable companies are rubbish aren't they? I'm with Time Warner and the service is so bad it's like ted turner himself is doing the repairs. And yet... we are their cutomers, aren't we. Which kind of MAKES MY POINT!  

No I'm sorry Terry, you must prepare for the inevitable. First, despite regulatory and anti-trust violations, this is going to skirt past any objections you or for that matter everyone has.

Second, sadly both Roberts (CEO-Comcast) and Immult (CEO-GE) are huge supporters of Obama and gi-normous (sp?) contributors to the Democratic Party.  This will pass through the twelve month regulatory process with little resistance.

Although from a business stand point Comcast has made a brilliant coup in acquiring such a powerful content provider as Universal NBC and all its far reaching tentacles. The media landscape will be changed from this day forward.  This will begin the escalation in content buyouts among other cable giants and probably will spread it contagion into the telco industry as well.

You will pay for your Hulu content and probably all the others despite your objections.   

Comcast already has Fancast and partnership with ABC, not to mention exclusives with Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet and The Food Network. 

It may be time to pick up a book, you know of the paper variety.

Sorry, Steve... you've obviously never been a Comcast customer. The company may understand how to make money, but it has an even surer hand at screwing things up, feigning indifference, and acting like nothing's wrong. Hulu seems to have attracted a pretty loyal following; I'd hate to see Comcast mess that up through stupidity, greed or incompetence.