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Hulu CEO: "We screwed up royally"

50 points| peter123 | 17 years ago |37signals.com | reply

44 comments

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[+] dabeeeenster|17 years ago|reply
Why is this linked through 37signals? Why not just link through to the original message?

I understand people respect 37s here for whatever reason, but sometimes the linking is just ridiculous. This has nothing to do with 37s...

[+] unalone|17 years ago|reply
Because more people read 37signals than read the Hulu blog. This is how I came across the message, too. And some people use the HN autosubmit bookmarklet for fast posting.
[+] noor420|17 years ago|reply
is it just me getting this feeling lately or 37 signals is trying to spam HN
[+] tptacek|17 years ago|reply
Note that he didn't just say the right things; they backed it up with actions. They got the eps re-added for two weeks to provide notice.
[+] fallentimes|17 years ago|reply
And took full responsibility instead of shedding the blame on others. Talk about defying expectations, Hulu is incredible.
[+] staunch|17 years ago|reply
From what I've seen of Jason Kilar he seems like a damn good CEO. Totally excellent candidate for a Founders at Work II interview.
[+] ALee|17 years ago|reply
Agreed. He was my vote for the CEO Crunchies Award. Just because someone has a good product is one factor, but I think this guy handles himself like CEOs should.
[+] charlesju|17 years ago|reply
How hard is it to create a startup when you have all the premium content on TV at your disposal?
[+] jadence|17 years ago|reply
Excellent point. In many ways I think the networks get a bit too much credit for Hulu.

I thought a bit about it think and I think the accolades are largely because people didn't expect much after the fiascos of the RIAA and the MPAA. How many of us here expected the networks to be able to embrace, adapt, and deliver like they did with Hulu? I know I sure didn't.

Sure many readers here could've built something equivalent or better given rights to the content and half the capital injection but IMO the networks still deserve recognition for Hulu.

[+] chris11|17 years ago|reply
I think Hulu did great in this situation. It's not like they have said they would keep episodes of shows up forever, shows get removed a lot. FX wanted the show off, so they basically had to take the show off.The only bad point was originally they would have lost credibilty as a reliable place to watch shows, but the notice and addition of the show for another two weeks show they are taking this seriously. Hulu has earned some of my respect, I'm impressed.
[+] kwamenum86|17 years ago|reply
It's funny that 37s thought the apology letter was great because it violated some of the principles they laid out for good apologies.
[+] aston|17 years ago|reply
They even got two episodes added back that weren't there before (The Gang Gets Whacked, pts. 1 & 2). Sweet.
[+] geuis|17 years ago|reply
I'm sorry, but I think everyone is missing the point. Why is Hulu removing content from their site at all? We live in the age of practical infinite storage and effectual infinite bandwidth. I wonder if any of these people have read about the long tail. Even though the economics of the LT are still being debated, there is absolutely no valid argument to be made about removing content from your service that has already been made available. For instance, I have been listening to tech podcasts at ITconversations for years and have even been an occasional editor. They have a system that rebuilds their entire collection of shows multiple times per month with new audio ads/sponsors. They are a much smaller business than something like Hulu and have built a dynamic infrastructure that works very well. Hulu can slap updated ads onto their shows much easier than that because it's all flash based. So why are they removing content at all? That is the question AND the point, not whether or not they have a proactive and apologetic CEO.
[+] unalone|17 years ago|reply
They're removing it because the people that created the TV show want it removed. Those people are the ones with rights to the content.

They also remove The Daily Show after two weeks, because Comedy Central wants to archive it on their own show. They have that right as content owners.

So I get that you don't like that, but it's their right, and the fact is that Hulu's so good because they work well with others.

[+] iamdave|17 years ago|reply
Mistakes happen. It’s how you handle them that really matters

You know that analogy about the king not wearing any clothes, and the little kid is the only person to notice it?

Yeah.

[+] unalone|17 years ago|reply
I'm a bit confused. Who's lacking clothes in your analogy?