YouTube and Hulu to Take On Cable TV Industry

The cable industry has been using the catch phrase ‘anytime, anywhere, and any device’ for a while. But with the threat of YouTube and Hulu enabling viewing TV content over the Internet, they were singled out as the ‘big, bad guys’ that want to eat traditional TV’s lunch during the CASBAA conference held in Hong Kong on Tuesday.

A recent development by Google is fueling the negative sentiment. Google-owned video site, YouTube, last week said it’s partnering with Hollywood production companies and celebrities in film, music, news, and sports to launch more than 100 video channels.

Media reports also suggest YouTube aims to create a new digital video platform to offer advertisers more targeted audience profiles.

In August, Hulu launched its subscription service in Japan, the first market outside of the U.S to provide viewers with premium feature films and popular TV shows across a range of devices: gaming consoles, smartphones, computers, and tablets.

Hulu also secured a partnership with Japan’s largest mobile network NTT Docomo to use its service. Unlike in the U.S., it does not offer advertising in Japan.

“You can’t stop the OTT (Over the Top TV/ Internet TV) revolution,” Johannes Larcher, SVP of international at Hulu said at the event.

He added that these services are not cannibalizing the market, as there are many incremental revenues to be made.

Larcher said these added features would enable the industry to capture viewing behaviour and attract new audiences.

CASBAA is the association for digital multichannel television, content, platforms, advertising, and video delivery across Asia.