Adobe Media Player, Hulu, IPTV is here to stay

I had given up on Joost because of lack of good content, and because the player doesn't work on my Mac anymore. I'm currently testing Adobe Media Player (watching CSI NY as I write) and yesterday I fooled around with Hulu. Oh and I also had a look at tv.adobe.com which interestingly has a homepage layout that is identical to Hulu.com ... some connection there?


Both hulu.com and Adobe Media Player have great interfaces, based on standard technology (Flash/Flex & Air) which works perfectly on many platforms. OK, Joost may be a bit more creative, but Hulu and the Adobe Media Player simply do the job. Streaming (even full screen) delivers a great experience, I can't wait to attach my Mac to the big screen at home. I suspect the quality will be as good as standard digital TV.

Even more important is the content. Hulu (if you can get past the IP-blocking for non-US viewers) offers a huge database of movies and TV shows I really want to see, and the latest episode of CSI N.Y. is rolling in swiftly on the Adobe platform.

I just found a lot of reasons to throw out the iDTV box and put a Mac Mini in place. No Apple TV though, because I want to get content from more then just iTunes. TV is really in for some big changes over the coming years, that much is clear.

MIPTV Cannes: Internet TV Keynote - Sex, Lies and Online TV

Goodmorning Cannes, back in the Esterel room for the Internet TV Keynote by Hulu CEO Jason Kilar. Christel De Maeyer from Plugmedia sits next to me, we're in good company.

- cool little quote to set the scene -
Google paid more for DoubleClick then the Indian group Tata paid for Jaguar and Land Rover.

1. Strong trend
All indicators concerning online video have tripled over the last 24 months.

2. Atypical user experience

Three design principles:
- Not overloaded (should not look like Tokyo at night)
- My mother should be able to use it in 15 seconds without help
- Light & stylish

"There will always be more people on the internet who are not on Hulu.com, that is why we want to take this experience to as much as possible other sites." This is something we've been talking about a lot lately. Next to your own site, you have to build an ecosystem of sites around you where people can consume your content.
And Hulu.com also turns it around. If e.g. "Lost" is not available on Hulu.com, but it is available legally somewhere else on the web, Hulu.com offers this content too (links to those sites). So they actually 'promote' competitor's content for the sake of consumer comfort. That alone may just be enough to make Hulu a success.

3. What about content owners
A big plea for online TV as a form of 'sampling'. "We are in an impulse business". Give your content away online (with some advertising to pay for part of it) and when people like it, people will go buy your content to be consumed in other occasions (DVD, TV, etc.).