Coda
by Staff -- Multichannel News, 5/11/2009 2:00:00 AM
Hulu Serves Some Imports
Los Angeles — Hulu, the Internet TV venture backed by NBC Universal, News Corp. and The Walt Disney Co., has added popular international TV shows and movies — including content from Britain, Japan and India — but the service, for now, is still available only to U.S. users.
The new content includes Bollywood films and hit U.K. television shows from Endemol, as well as Japanese anime.
Hulu confirmed that the Web site is still restricted to viewers in the U.S. and will remain that way for now. It did not disclose a timeframe regarding possible international expansion.
Currently, Internet users who try to access Hulu from outside the U.S. see a message that says: “Hulu is committed to making its content available worldwide. To do so, we must work through a number of legal and business issues, including obtaining international streaming rights.”
In March, the company hired Johannes Larcher, who previously ran international operations for Friendster and Overture, as senior vice president of international operations.
Meanwhile, Hulu posted a job listing last week seeking a director of international business development, who will “help build a service that lets people find and enjoy the world’s premier content when, where and how they want it,” a role that will include defining regional and country-specific market-entry strategies.
Some of the international content Hulu has added includes: Digital Rights Group’s GreenWing, Peep Show, Doc Martin and Kingdom; Endemol’s Fear Factor UK, I Want to be a Hilton and Chains of Love; Bollywood films from Saavn, including Sarkar, Deewana and Hera Pheri; and U.S.-based anime producer FUNimation’s Mushi-shi, Shikabane Hime and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.
Hulu recently announced a deal with Disney, which shares a reported 27.5% stake along with NBCU and News Corp.
— Todd Spangler
CAB Pens Upfront Pitch
New York — With broadcast presentations set for next week and the upfront selling season drawing nigh, the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau has reminded procurement and purchasing executives at the top 50 U.S. TV advertisers that cable’s the way to go.
CAB president and CEO Sean Cunningham, in letters sent to ad execs, detailed the investment merits of securing schedules and other messaging on ad-supported cable networks.
Disseminated to marketing and agency executives as well, the missive pointed to the medium’s accelerated ratings growth, which collectively accounts for 58% of all primetime ratings points and gives cable the largest reach among all key demo groups. The letter also underlines cable’s ongoing investment — $20 billion in 2009 — in fresh fare: CAB estimates that 67% of all cable network programming is original.
“We wanted to get the same fact sheet about network cable advertising in the hands of each of the important constituencies that collaborate on the buy side of the video advertising market” said Cunningham.
— Mike Reynolds
FCC Hearing Postponed
Washington — The confirmation hearing of Julius Genachowski to become chairman of the FCC has been pushed back from its scheduled May 12 start.
No reason was given for the delay in an e-mailed statement that it was “agreed on a bipartisan basis to postpone the hearing until just after the Memorial Day recess.”
Sources said Republican congressional leaders indicated that Genachowski’s nomination and that of South Carolina utility regulator Mignon Clyburn would need to be paired with Republican nominees before they could be installed so that the commission would have the requisite complement of Republicans.
— John Eggerton
'Jon & Kate’ Plus Rumors
Los Angeles — TLC is still planning a May 25 season-five premiere of its hit reality series Jon & Kate Plus 8, about the lives of Jon and Kate Gosselin and their eight children, despite photos in US Magazine suggesting that Jon may be having an affair.
A TLC spokeswoman said the controversy will be addressed “in some way” during the fifth-season premiere episode, but would not give further details.
—R. Thomas Umstead
'Tudors’ Gets Its Game On
New York — Showtime Networks is bringing Henry VIII to the PC screen, through a deal with video-game developer Merscom to create an adventure game based on its original series The Tudors.
The game is slated to debut in October, while The Tudors’ fourth and final season is set for spring 2010.
—Todd Spangler
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