Why Time Warner should incorporate Hulu

May 27, 2009 by
Filed under: General 

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Time shifting is fast becoming the norm, but what if you forget to record a show?  What if you want to catch the previous season of a program before jumping into the new season?  Let’s not even get into the potential for making money from overseas content.

Media companies are slowly embracing the realities of the internet and it seems like this is a perfect opportunity to make a difference.

I understand that TW has to protect its add revenue and it wouldn’t want to have Hulu gain a bigger audience thus shifting ad revenue there, but what if instead it could figure out a model where TW could do the ad placement on hulu content and share the revenue?

TW could also make it so that a viewer could schedule a program to record on their TW DVR after watching the content from Hulu.  This would bring the audience back to traditional media while blending in the online experience.  In a sense this is enhanced TV.  Without this option I might be more reluctant to jump into the new season of Heroes if I have never watched the series, but if I could go back and catch the series from season 1, I might stick around.

There are many ways that traditional media sources can collaborate with new distribution channels to enhance their offerings, but by not acknowledging the elephant in the room they can seal their own fate as more and more viewers catch on to the power of true on-demand entertainment.  I already know people who are canceling cable in favor of online distribution and this trend is bound to continue unless companies like TW figure out more compelling ways to engage viewers.

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