Hulu Gives Up On Plans For UK Launch

Hulu has surprisingly announced that it has abandoned plans to launch the online video service in the United Kingdom and arguably in any territories outside the United States.

According to the Telegraph, the entity, which is a consortium created by NBC, Fox Entertainment and ABC, fears that it would not be able to get any traction in the British TV market, one which it says doesn't match their business expectations.

The bone of contention revolves around the fact that Hulu wants to sell advertising for the likes of ITV and Channel 4 in the UK itself, something that arguably British broadcasters do not want to for obvious reasons.

Seesaw, Youtube, MSN player and Canvas have already penned contracts with the main broadcasters on their own terms so it would be near impossible for Hulu to impose its own.

It was also feared that Hulu, as an aggregator, might become a powerful competitors to the broadcasters' own online video services given the fact that it would have exclusive and popular US series.

A source close to Hulu however said that all hope is not lost and that hopefully in the future, the video on demand website will be able to secure agreements with broadcasters or, still better, go alone.

As Trustedreviews's Gordon Kelly puts it, "Hulu seems to be missing the point entirely" as what people really are looking for is brand new content that only Hulu can bring, like House, Dexter and Glee.