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Last night’s town hall debate between presidential candidates was more than just debate #2.  It was the first time Hulu streamed live.  That is right, in addition to the myriad of ways to catch the not so “straight talk,” add Hulu to the list.  Who cares right?

NBC cares

Here is why: NBC and friends are testing the water.  Hulu was founded by NBC and News Corp as an alternative to YouTube for their content.  In wanting to control the advertising profits made from showing their content, Hulu was born.  And now, they are moving into a competitor role with local affiliates, cable operators, even satellite operators.  If Hulu can cut out the middlemen to bring you their content and advertisers, that’s more money in their pocket and even better: that’s money in your pocket.

Scooby Doo gets dissed

Can you ditch your cable TV now?  It is getting pretty darn close.  Hulu does a fantastic job of making content easy to find, easy to watch and their selection is very impressive (as long as you are not looking for Scooby Doo - don’t ask why I was searching for that).  Been living on a deserted island and want to see what this whole “Survivor” thing is about?  Hulu has 676 episodes and clips from CBS waiting for you.  Typically clips are presented with just one sponsor you need to sit through, which, for me, is a fair trade off.  So, what are the down sides to living the Hulu only?

Hulu’s resolution is good, but not super-duper.  This stuff isn’t for big screens, yet.  Not everyone will find watching ads as acceptable, especially in front of a computer.

What’s next?

One of the things to watch in the coming months is the social aspect of it.  What if you could send you parents the clip of your daughter on TV?  Hulu’s clipping service can allow you to do just that.  The stuff is even embeddable.  If that isn’t impressive forward thinking in an industry that drags its feet into the future, I don’t know what is.  They get it and the service keeps getting better.  I expect more social aspects to evolve as it moves forward.

The days of paying your cable operator $70 per month is coming to a quick close.

Read [ars technica]