Andre Yoskowitz
23 Feb 2009 0:45
The popular online video site Hulu has pulled its TV content from two rivals this past week, sparking some outrage from viewers who enjoyed being able to see content from many distributors on one site.
Hulu is backed by NBC Universal and News Corp. and the sites the content was removed from were CBS-backed TV.com and the startup Boxee.
A few of the popular shows removed from the rival sites were Heroes, Family Guy, The Simpsons, and The Office.
Hulu had previously signed a syndication deal with TV.com allowing the site to play Hulu's content. Since then, CBS has relaunched the site with ad-supported full-length TV programming from CBS, Showtime and PBS.
NBC added in a statement that it “has contractual rights with regards to our relationship with TV.com, and we are exercising those rights. Out of respect for their confidentiality, we will not disclose our discussions.”
Boxee CEO Avner Ronen noted that the company had brought 100,000 streams for Hulu in the last week alone and was doing all it could to get the content back.