Polymer Studios :: Web Consulting

Beware the buyer. (Okay, I’m not a Latin scholar, and Latin grammar probably doesn’t work that way, but you take my meaning.) NBC Universal made a high-profile decision in August not to renew its contract to sell its video content through iTunes. Instead, they’ve chosen to join forces with News Corp. to build a new video distribution platform dubbed “Hulu.”

This is but another salvo in the lumbering battle over the media distribution biz, pitting content producers, distributors and consumers at odds with one another.

Much has been written about the various forces at work here, not the least of which is a consumer base that has radically altered its media consumption habits. From iPods to TiVo to Slingbox, from RSS feeds to email on the phone, we’ve grown accustomed to time- and location-shifted entertainment and communications.

Apple’s iPod coupled with iTunes certainly helped usher in this era of convenience and portability, and they’ve allowed commuters, travelers and bored students everywhere the ability to watch TV on the go for a relatively reasonable price. Despite the ready availability of video content via BitTorrent and other sources, many people have chosen to purchase the content they wish to view for the convenience and, possibly, the warm fuzzy feeling of doing the right thing.

Now comes Hulu. Their answer to all the convenience and flexibility users have come to expect from the iTunes experience?

Online streaming in a small Flash player embedded on a web page — with ads.

Think about that. You can’t download it. You can’t watch it on a plane. You can’t take it overseas with you. You can’t play it on your TV. You can’t archive it. You have to watch it at your computer. And you better have a fast Internet connection.

While YouTube mastered the art of short-form online video, the expected user experience for television shows is much different. People want to settle in. Relax. Unwind. Enjoy. Hulu’s approach removes so many of the benefits that people have come to enjoy about portable, on-demand viewing.

The response from consumers? Well, read it for yourself.

Media consumers have come to enjoy their new-found power and freedom. Once the genie’s out, beware the effort to stuff it back in the bottle.

It will be interesting to see whether and in what ways the Hulu team comes to grips with the demands of their users — and whether they can chart a path to success.