Allen Weiner

The long-anticipated deal in which Hulu adds ABC’s prime time shows to its lineup, as well as its daytime soaps and programming from ABC Family, Disney Channel and SOAPnet is official. Besides licensing content, Disney is taking an equity stake in Hulu, with Disney getting three seats on the Hulu board that will be filled by Bob Iger; Anne Sweeney, co-chair, Disney Media Networks and president, Disney/ABC Television Group; and Kevin Mayer, executive vice president, Corporate Strategy, Business Development & Technology. In addition, both NBC and News Corp (Fox) have agreed to extend their licensing deals with Hulu for an additional two years (the term of the Disney deal), putting an end to rumors that Hulu’s lock on key content was slipping away. It must be pointed out that ESPN, one of Disney’s top brands, is not mentioned anywhere in the agreement. Can one assume ESPN is left to go its own way in the TV 2.0 arena?

The move turns Hulu’s lineup into something that closely resembles your average low-end cable system, with only CBS absent, putting TV.com (CBS’s version of Hulu) in a precarious position as it contemplates future moves. YouTube, thought to be the prime competitor to Hulu, has recently added premium content in the form of Sony/Crackle comedies (hold on, is that really premium) and some rather weathered films (“the Mod Squad,” “Carrie”) so the Disney-Hulu deal sets the stage for Hulu passing YouTube in online viewership, perhaps not in total views, but in views of premium content that appeals to major advertisers.

A few more points to consider: still left in play are a few crown jewels whose addition could be essential in this TV 2.0 online programming race. Showtime, a CBS company, is likely to go to TV.com; Viacom, a company not especially happy with YouTube for alleged copyright violations, which has a roster that includes MTV, BET, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, etc. Will Viacom go with Hulu, TV.com or create its own online network? And then there’s HBO, in the process of varied experiments for online distribution. HBO’s move may be closely aligned to the cable industry’s proposed moves into the online space and that brings forth the question whether the current online TV 2.0 space is just a prelude to the emergence of a MSO-powered online presence ala Comcast’s planned evolution of its Fancast site from video portal to cable service add on. Such an offering would be tied-to/bundled with cable service. If that’s the case, Hulu may be just building a content rich, user-friendly service with a powerful backend infrastructure that will be too good for most MSOs or aspiring TV-hungry telcos to pass up. If that’s the case, Google will truly regret it bought YouTube.