Hulu is our friend! I'm hoping that such internet tv will revolutionize watching. Why should we pay for cable and all the dross that goes with the few, very few real shows worth watching? I use Hulu, Netflix and Dualviewer (to watch BBC) for a lot less than the equivalent cable costs.
They always cute when they're puppies. Remember when cable had no advertising, because you paid for the service? These services will likely fall prey to similar problems in the future, too...to programming, cost or advertising (or all?). The only consolation is they have real-time choice.
Disclaimer:
In my own household, we have AT&T Uverse - ALL the premium cable channels, most of the sports channels and lots and lots of payTV options plus an incredible ever-changing library of free "on demand" movies and special events we can watch whenever we have time. In addition, the TIVO-like system allows either watching or recording (any combination) four different shows simultaneously. The system includes land line phone and internet access including password access WIFI throughout the house and 1/2 acre surrounding the house. The monthly cost is less than I previously paid for only Comcast TV cable with ability to watch or record a limit of two shows simultaneously. Then I had to pay additional money for phone and internet separately and use my own WIFI hooked to the internet DSL.
When folks ask me why I don't get a much cheaper basic cable hookup and use Hulu and the various broadcast TV network and cable websites to watch other shows, I am reminded of our long-running thread on
Why not make 'standards' free? (since 2002) and the idea that somewhere along the line, some folks have to step up and pay for new programming and the infrastructure to distribute it. If everyone decided to be a freeloader, soon ALL viewing fare would be merely thinly disguised infomercials to induce consumers to buy products. I recall some recent so-called "scripted shows" with so many overt product placements, including statements by characters using brand names in describing their likes and dislikes.
Thus, in one free broadcast TV drama show, a major character waxed on for 3 minutes on why he had bought his daughter a
Nissan Rogue only to have it pop up again later in the story when it got stolen and then recovered because of the security systems (Nissan Vehicle Immobilizer System) for another 3 minutes. That's 6 minutes out of 45 minutes of content in a one-hour broadcast.
IF folks stop paying for cable and cable thus stops paying content providers, TV shows will all be like that.
If you watch movies only on Hulu, and persuade everyone else to do the same, soon folks will decide not to pay $10 to $15 admission to watch first-run films like Avatar or Ironman, then we'll all be reduced to watching old movies on computer screens , Hollywood and Bollywood will decay and plastic surgeons will go broke because no actors or producers are paying for cosmetic surgery!
On the other hand, there will always be people eager to get "something for nothing." Of course, that "something" will be worth exactly what they paid!