Larry King’s new talk show, Larry King Now, recently premiered on Hulu with little build-up or fanfare. That was purposeful, said Jon Housman, CEO of Ora, which produces the series and airs it as the first element of a multi-year, multi-show partnership with Hulu.
“There’s fairly compelling data out there that digital people Read More
In the vein of Dan Rather bringing his act from CBS to the AXS network (formerly HDNet), another old-time newsman is trying out this new media thing. Larry King’s new talk show, Larry King Now, has been licensed by the digital network Ora.TV and will air on Hulu. The site is trying to add Read More
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After the somewhat lackluster return of Will Ferrell on Saturday Night Live this weekend, we had to ask “What’s up with that?” Obviously, Will Ferrell is hilarious, but the sketches were hit and miss. It’s especially mind-boggling since Hulu has put up several of the un-aired segments from Mr. Ferrell’s episode that were ten times funnier than what we actually saw on television.
This is an inexplicable trend of the live comedy show in recent years: One of the funniest sketches this season was “The Californians,” a soap opera about navigating the drive up to Malibu. Bill Hader’s struggle to keep it together during the bit made it an instant classic and spawned a thousand GIFs. (Unlike his predecessor Jimmy Fallon, Mr. Hader’s struggle not to crack up on stage makes any sketch 1,000 times funnier.) But even better than the version that actually made it to air was the dress version of ‘The Californians,’ which Hulu offers with several other scenes from past seasons that either never aired or just weren’t as funny when they did.
We understand the idea of having “web extras” as supplemental material, but not at the expensive of the actual show. Why bother tuning in when the funny stuff is only going to be online? Below, we compare and contrast these un-aired clips with the version that made it on TV…as well as some bits that never got off the Internet. Read More
As an increasing segment of the population cancel their cable subscription and subsist on a diet of television and films streamed through their laptops, Internet video sites like Hulu and Netflix have hastily bid on a slew of original series in the hopes that one day soon, nobody will use their televisions unless Roku is involved.
While Netflix is funding series that appeal to a cult fan base–a new season of Arrested Development, House of Cards, Lilyhammer (already renewed for a second season), and Hemlock Grove– Hulu’s recent acquisitions point to a wide-net marketing strategy: accessible shows for an audience of TV viewers who want more of the same.
Today, during Hulu’s upfronts, viewers got a brief glimpse of The Awesomes, an animated series by Saturday Night Live‘s Weekend Update anchor Seth Meyers. Read More
Peter Kafka at AllThingsD prepares us for the sale of Hulu, with bids expected in the neighborhood of $1.5 billion. Mr. Kafka speculates that the most likely buyer may be Yahoo, a company (like other prospective bidders) with none of the blossoming ambivalence and complications that bedevil current co-owners Disney, News Corp, and Read More
Gawker’s retraction of their flubbed Arnold Schwarzenegger love child story wasn’t good enough for the former flight attendant Tammy Tousignant, whom it wrongly identified as the most recent employee/mistress/love child-bearer of Arnold Schwarzenegger. She’s filed a $40 million libel lawsuit against Gawker, National Enquirer, Daily Mail, and others, according to the OC Weekly.
“News crews and paparazzi converged on the Tousignants’ quiet Brea neighborhood,” says the lawsuit. “They were inundated with phone calls and messages. They were forced to flee their house and stay at another location. Tanner was followed. Their online accounts were hacked into. They were and continue to be the subject of scorn and scrutiny in their own community. Their reputations have been permanently damaged.”
The Hangover Part II, True Blood and Mortal Kombat 9, saved Time Warner, Jeff Bewkes told the The New York Times. On Wednesday the company, which owns Warner Brothers, Turner Broadcasting and Time Inc., reported a 10% increase in revenue this quarter, the highest growth since January. Read More
In the basement of the Crosby Street Hotel, Kiefer Sutherland munched on a miniature hamburger. He was wearing a gray blazer and pointy cowboy boots and bestowing hugs. “This all started with a challenge, which was to tell a story in five minutes,” he said.
Hulu CEO Jason Kilar was feeling triumphant last night, having just won the right to start airing top properties like The Daily Show and Colbert Report again.
In a lengthy blog post, Kilar laid out the future of web TV as Hulu sees it, and didn’t mince words when describing the traditional TV networks, Read More
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Big Three TV networks have decided not to allow their progams, which already stream online, to be available through Google TV, which puts the web onto consumers’ televisions.
According to the The Journal’s Sam Schechner and Amir Efrati, “The move marks an escalation in ongoing disputes Read More
According to Reuters Hulu is hoping to raise $200-300 million in an IPO led by Morgan Stanley that would value the company at $2 billion.
Hulu is backed by GE (NBC), Disney (ABC) and News Corp. (Fox), so it’s future will have a big impact on New York’s media market.
The company claims to Read More
