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[gdt]

http://news-briefs.ew.com/2009/04/disney-partners.html

The Walt Disney Company, through a subsidiary of ABC Enterprises Inc., has joined NBC Universal, News Corporation, and Providence Equity Partners as a partner and equity owner of the online content aggregator Hulu, the two companies announced today. Disney/ABC content that will be made available on Hulu under the new arrangement will include ad-supported full-length episodes of Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Private Practice, Ugly Betty, Scrubs, Greek, Hope & Faith, Less than Perfect, Wizards of Waverly Place, Phineas and Ferb, Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, General Hospital, The View, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager as well as some Disney library feature films.

This is very awesome. Also excited about the potential movies they can put up.

Really, this is absolutely huge for Hulu.

 

[heliosRAzi]

Fuckin' finally. I hate using ABC's player for watching Lost

 

[Raxus]

Finally, awesome news.

It would be sweet if we got some old school Disney movie's on Hulu (not going to happen )

 

[shintoki]

So ABC, NBC, and Fox are all on Hulu now. <3

Yea, Hulu kicks some serious ass

 

[Aladuf]

Awesome news, and it looks like they've already added it to Hulu but it's just linking to the ABC video player to watch it for now.

 

[Ceres]

Awesome news, and it looks like they've already added it to Hulu but it's just linking to the ABC video player to watch it for now.

It was like that before.

 

[Cornballer]

Good news.

 

[Keylime]

ABC's video player was much better than 480p, however.

Quality loss if it get's fully converted to Hulu quality which blows. I loved watching Lost on my HDTV. Great quality.

Obviously this is a good thing, but I will miss the great quality that the ABC player provided.

 

[fallengorn]

Finally! I can watch Lost and.... I can watch Lost!

 

[Zyzyxxz]

I wonder if we can get all the episodes of Lost?

Still haven't started watching it

 

[Aladuf]

It was like that before.

Ah gotcha, I didn't know that.

 

[Kastro]

it'd be great if Hulu could help with the dated Nielson ratings system.. maybe it could help save some good shows.

 

[Darko]

Yay now i cant watch lost on two sites instead of just one!
canada screwed yet again. :lol

 

[Ceres]

I wonder if we can get all the episodes of Lost?

Still haven't started watching it

They have them all on ABC.com right now. They might potentially put a few on Hulu and have the rest take you to ABC. The HD quality at ABC is a lot better than Hulu's right now and I'm pretty sure they also have both the regular and enhanced version of each episode

 

[Stoney Mason]

Fuckin' finally. I hate using ABC's player for watching Lost

This

 

[gdt]

I wonder if we can get all the episodes of Lost?

Still haven't started watching it

They are ALL on ABC.com, IN HD. They will not be that way on Hulu.




The thing is, some people have problems with the ABC player (it's finicky to say the least). And again, this is a major score for Hulu, LOST is the most watched show online, both legally and not.

 

[BobJustBob]

Finally. ABC's player sucks so much. And NBC's too. All of them, really, except Hulu's.

 

[levious]

no Pushing Daisies mentioned?

 

[Son of Godzilla]

That ABC player has to be costing them an arm and a leg.

 

[gdt]

The ABC player, if it works for you, and if you can disregard some quirks, is awesome. It looks awesome in HD.

But Hulu has a fine, stable player that everyone can use.

I doubt all of the episodes will be on Hulu though. Again, to any one waiting to jump on, ALL episodes of LOST are on ABC.com (if you're in the US, eff you Canada).

 

[SpeedingUptoStop]

If they fuck this up and now we just have clips of Lost instead of full episodes, I'll be >:-|

 

[Struct09]

Hulu just keep increasing in awesomeness

 

[andycapps]

The ABC player, if it works for you, and if you can disregard some quirks, is awesome. It looks awesome in HD.

But Hulu has a fine, stable player that everyone can use.

I doubt all of the episodes will be on Hulu though. Again, to any one waiting to jump on, ALL episodes of LOST are on ABC.com (if you're in the US, eff you Canada).

Oh all episodes are online? I tried jumping in a few years ago and watched for over a month and still had no clue what was going on. Figured it'd be better to start at the very beginning, but I didn't know they were all available to watch online.

Great news regarding the ABC/Disney deal with Hulu.

 

[Oni Jazar]

Hulu just keep increasing in awesomeness

As does PlayOn.

 

[JayDubya]

Oh, so I might be able to catch up on however many seasons there have been since the first one? Great.

 

[gdt]

Oh, so I might be able to catch up on however many seasons there have been since the first one? Great.

S1, 2, 3, and 4 are all on ABC.com right now in HD. S5 (current season) is only showing the most recent five episodes on ABC.com.

I dont know/think that all episodes will be on Hulu.

 

[Calcaneus]

OMG General Hospital!

I mean LOST!

 

[blackaroni]

Hulu has gone downhill in my opinion. I'd been using it for a while before it met commercial success. Now I can never find the episodes I want and my videos have to buffer mid episode. :\

 

[yodandy]

Oh Hell yes!

 

[PillowKnight]

Hulu has gone downhill in my opinion. I'd been using it for a while before it met commercial success. Now I can never find the episodes I want and my videos have to buffer mid episode. :\

:lol So have I, and it still works as well as it always did.

 

[trancekr]

Awesome.

 

[neight]

Nice.

 

[Soybean]

Cool, but like many here, I don't want to give up the HD streams at ABC.com.

Better yet, Hulu, start offering HD. 480p ain't cuttin' it!

 

[Shiggie]

YYeeessss!

 

[Y2Kev]

And Time Warner's about to cut bandwidth down to 5mb per month on announcement of this news!

 

[sooperkool]

Time for CBS and a few cable channels to join in and our future is set

 

[oxtailsoup]

So when is this supposed to happen? ABC's major prime time shows link back to them , as they always have, but the older ones don't even show up.

I want some Less Than Perfect for some hot Sara Rue action.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

YES. I've been wanting to catch up for awhile now, but the ABC player never worked right on my laptop. I'm on like episode 4 or 5 of Season 4. With finals ending tomorrow, I have a feeling I'll be caught up in no time.

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

omg omg omg, i love hulu. I can finally watch lost and grey's on chrome now.

 

[KHarvey16]

It's great to have more choice but the ABC player has always worked fine for me and I'll echo others who have said it better not go anywhere. Unless Hulu upgrades their stream nothing beats the ABC HD.

 

[Akia]

Wow

 

[gdt]

Three of the four big broadcast networks now own stakes in Hulu, the popular video Web site.

ABC Enterprises, a unit of the Walt Disney Company, announced Thursday that, as expected, it would join NBC Universal and the News Corporation as a partner in the joint venture. Hulu, a remarkably fast-growing source of streaming TV shows and movies, will soon add ABC episodes to its online library.

Episodes of “Lost,” “Desperate Housewives” and other ABC shows are already available on ABC.com. Fans of those shows know they can catch up on episodes they miss by going online. But by distributing them on Hulu, Disney hopes to reach a new audience of casual viewers who may not be exposed to ABC.com.

ABC cited comScore data showing that only 8 percent of the ABC.com audience also visits Hulu, while 13 percent of the Hulu audience also visits ABC.com.

The deal gives Hulu another boost in the race to be the top destination for TV shows online. NBC and Fox shows are already available on the advertising-supported site.

“From our landmark iTunes deal to our pioneering decision to stream ad-supported shows on our ABC.com player, Disney has sought to meet the constantly evolving viewing habits of our consumers, and today’s Hulu announcement is the next important step in that ongoing journey,” said Robert A. Iger, the chief executive of Disney, in a statement. “Disney and Hulu share a focus on delivering the highest-quality entertainment experience, and we look forward to working with Hulu to build value for our consumers, our brands and our shareholders.”

Along with ABC’s prime-time shows, the late-night program “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and the ABC Family show “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” will also be streamed on Hulu. Select shows from the Disney Channel, like “Wizards of Waverly Place,” will also be available.

Here's the New York Times article.

 

[Ceres]

It's great to have more choice but the ABC player has always worked fine for me and I'll echo others who have said it better not go anywhere. Unless Hulu upgrades their stream nothing beats the ABC HD.

Yeah, it's pretty much how I watched Pushing Daisies. Plus the one time my DVR for some reason didn't record a Lost episode.

Select shows from the Disney Channel, like “Wizards of Waverly Place,” will also be available.

B!TCH must be excited.

 

[gdt]

Walt Disney Co. has reached a deal to take a nearly 30% stake in Web-video aggregator Hulu and put full episodes of its ABC TV shows on the site.

The agreement caps months of talks between Disney and Hulu, a joint venture of General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal and News Corp. (News Corp. also owns The Wall Street Journal.)

Disney will invest capital and marketing dollars in a similar amount to each of NBC Universal and News Corp., which invested a combined $100 million, according to people close to the talks. It will also provide exclusive rights to full-length episodes to start the venture in 2007.

Disney's stake will be close to those of the two other media companies, the people said. Private-equity firm Providence Equity Partners will continue to hold a stake, as will Hulu employees, they added.

Hulu will be the first outside recipient of ABC's full-episode programming, which has lived for years only on the network's own Web site. Hulu—which reaches a different audience than ABC.com—will soon stream full episodes of popular prime time ABC shows such as "Lost" and "Grey's Anatomy." The site will also be home to archived titles from Disney's library, along with shows from ABC Family and Disney Channel.

The deal doesn't include some of the most-watched cable programming in the Disney portfolio, such as "Hannah Montana" and the "High School Musical" franchise. By keeping those titles off Hulu, Disney is trying to protect its relationship with cable operators, which pay the company large sums to air its programming.

A statement issued by Disney and Hulu said the transaction was subject to a regulatory review.

Disney will receive three seats on the Hulu board, joining executives from NBC Universal, News Corp. and Providence. Disney said its seats will be held by Disney President and CEO Robert Iger; Anne Sweeney, co-chair of Disney Media Networks and president of the Disney/ABC Television Group; and Kevin Mayer, executive vice president of corporate strategy, business development and technology.

The addition of Disney to Hulu leaves only one major broadcast network, CBS Corp., distributing its shows independently online. CBS puts its shows on a wide array of sites but without offering them to any exclusively.

CBS issued a statement reiterating its strategy and its reasoning. It said the company "believes that controlling our own rights for that content--in all media--preserves its value in a multi-platform business system."

Heres the Wall Street Journal article. It's the most informative one.

 

[Valion]

Hulu + PlayOn is like the best invention ever.

 

[Baker]

B!TCH must be excited.

Wizards of Waverly Place Selena Gomez is better than Lost.

 

[Prince of Space]

Excellent news! I'm about 8 episodes behind, so this couldn't have come at a better time.

 

[Fatalah]

Wow, I'm surprised Eisner couldn't do anything to bring ABC over to Veoh.

 

[PhoenixDark]

Sweet when does it start? I was re-watching all 4 Lost seasons before starting S5, but I got kinda side tracked and stopped halfway through S1. The ABC player is so damn annoying, I'm glad it's moving to Hulu

 

[gdt]

Sweet when does it start? I was re-watching all 4 Lost seasons before starting S5, but I got kinda side tracked and stopped halfway through S1. The ABC player is so damn annoying, I'm glad it's moving to Hulu

I've posted a bunch or articles (and read others), but I cant find out when it starts.

And there's no guarantee that all episodes of LOST will go up on Hulu.