Coming to Sling.com: Viacom Shows That YouTube, Hulu Can’t Show You
by Peter Kafka
Posted on January 22, 2009 at 8:20 AM PT
One day, Web viewers will be able to go to any video site and see any TV show they want.
But until then, if you want to see your favorite stuff on the Web (legally), you’ll need a well-annotated map: You can see ABC shows like “Lost” on Veoh, but not on Joost. Joost can show you stuff like CBS’s “CSI,” but not NBC’s “Heroes”–you’ll need to go to NBC.com or Hulu for that. Etc.
The newest set of directions: You’ll soon be able to see Viacom shows like Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob Square Pants” and MTV’s “The Hills” on Sling.com, giving the video site something you can’t get on Hulu or Google’s (GOOG) YouTube–but can get on Joost and DailyMotion.
Except that Hulu already shows full episodes of two of Viacom’s premiere shows–”The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report”–via a one-off deal with Viacom (VIA). And… Sling redistributes all of Hulu’s content except for those two shows. [UPDATE: Sling will be getting both of those shows under terms of the new Viacom deal, I'm told.]
Confused? Of course you are. Because there really isn’t any rhyme or reason to this.
So while the networks and the video sites spend time on business development deals, it’s hard to begrudge those who throw up their hands and just go find what they want when they want at various torrent sites like The Pirate Bay.
In the meantime, here’s a (legal) clip from last night’s Daily Show, via Hulu.
Comments
Or, a company like Boxee can pull it all together. Plus, it’s probably easier to check Hulu, Joost, etc than to find a good torrent that you feel comfortable using/sharing on for most people.
Frankly, I’ve been struggling with how this all plays out. The content creators can pretty easily distribute the big shows on their own sites, but portals (like Hulu et al) can introduce the smaller stuff via recommendations, etc. In the end, who ends up winning? Maybe ABC has it right in that people will come to view the ABC brand as the creator of great content and always go to ABC.com to find new and interesting shows. In that case, Hulu’s differentiator won’t be the content anymore, but will be the interface (which is amazing) but potentially could be disintermediated by boxee, appleTV, etc.
Bottom line: it’s exciting to be a consumer right now. scary to be a content owner/distributor
Posted by Brian Ballan at January 22nd, 2009 at 10:41 amThe way it plays out is that when a bunch of old farts with white hair who can’t read their own e-mail without help from a secretary finally find their way into a nursing home where the only technology they have to manage is their drool cup and bedpan, THEN there will be rational on-demand Internet based media.
I think we have a few years to go.
Posted by Mac Beach at January 22nd, 2009 at 1:17 pmBrian, definitely agree with you about upside for consumer right now. Re: scary times for owners/distributors – yep. Which makes it scary for, um, people who do that for a living. But also exciting!
Posted by Peter Kafka at January 22nd, 2009 at 2:26 pm“Because there really isn’t any rhyme or reason to this.”
I’m guessing the content owners want to help the smaller sites that aren’t doing as well as Hulu. How? By giving them exclusive content.
Giving everybody the same content will just re-inforce the success of the leaders. Then the content owners will be stuck with a few channels for online distribution and little leverage in their negotiations. Guys like Hulu will have a monopsony.
Posted by Babak Nivi at January 22nd, 2009 at 4:11 pmI hate having to remember all of this. The best TV site I’ve found to date is tv.blinkx.com – you can find out where everything lives FOR FREE and the site will take you straight to the show. None of this nonsensical traipsing about.
Posted by Grace Chee at January 26th, 2009 at 5:12 pm