Hulu Pulls Plug On Two Portals
In a blog post, Hulu CEO Jason Kilar said starting Friday Hulu content will no longer be available through Boxee, a social media center that plays media from a computer and other devices on a home network while also connecting users to Internet sources that let them stream or download movies, TV shows, music and photos.
"Later this week, Hulu's content will no longer be available through Boxee," Kilar wrote. "While we never had a formal relationship with Boxee, we are under no illusions about the likely Boxee user response from this move. This has weighed heavily on the Hulu team, and we know it will weigh even more so on Boxee users."
According to Kilar, Hulu's content providers requested it turn off access via Boxee. Hulu relented, despite having reservations.
"While we stubbornly believe in this brave new world of media convergence—bumps and all—we are also steadfast in our belief that the best way to achieve our ambitious, never-ending mission of making media easier for users is to work hand in hand with content owners," Kilar continued. "Without their content, none of what Hulu does would be possible, including providing you content via Hulu.com and our many distribution partner Web sites."
Boxee was just as disappointed. In a blog post, Boxee said it tried to persuade Hulu to continue supplying its content but the attempt failed.
"Two weeks ago Hulu called and told us their content partners were asking them to remove Hulu from Boxee," Boxee wrote. "We tried (many times) to plead the case for keeping Hulu on Boxee, but on Friday of this week, in good faith, we will be removing it."
Along with pulling its content from Boxee, Hulu also removed content from CBS' TV.com. In a statement, Hulu said: "Hulu 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."
Hulu will continue to offer programming from NBC, Fox and a host of other content providers.