Right on the heels of pulling the plug on their TV.com syndication deal, Hulu apparently just requested that their content be removed from Boxee. From the Boxee blog:
two weeks ago Hulu called and told us their content partners were asking them to remove Hulu from boxee. we tried (many times) to plead the case for keeping Hulu on boxee, but on Friday of this week, in good faith, we will be removing it. you can see their blog post about the issues they are facing.
our goal has always been to drive users to legal sources of content that are publicly available on the Internet. we have many content partners who are generating revenue from boxee users and we will work with Hulu and their partners to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.
we will tell them how users love Hulu on boxee, why it represents a great opportunity for them to better engage with fans of their shows, how boxee can help in exposing their content to new people, and why they should be excited about future opportunities of working with us.
While it seemed like (we all hoped!) the studios were wising up to the inevitability of IP distribution, it isn’t entirely surprising that they cut Boxee off. Internet based TV on your computer can be rationalized as just another marketing channel. Internet based TV on the TV, on the other hand, means the end of the local affiliate stations and cable companies as we know them (both of which contribute significant earnings to, or directly own many of the studios producing TV content).
While this move isn’t likely to kill Boxee in the short term, the question is will other major networks now pull their content from Boxee as well (ABC, NBC…)?
As much as the existing TV distribution system would like to delay it, the day of free, IP based based TV on the TV, is coming. The irony of the situation is that innovators like Boxee are ones that will ultimately save the studios. Even if it means saving them from themselves.
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