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I came across the chart above thanks to betfair.com.  The chart shows “the most accurate, up-to-the-minute prediction of who will win the U.S. Presidential election based on millions of wagers placed in the world’s largest betting exchange.“  Neat stuff.

But look closer and you see a divergence on September 15th (a Monday).  Something happened on this date that reversed both Obama’s downward trend and McCain’s comeback.

Find out what I theorize this to be and how YouTube has political blood on its hands.

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Broadcast television is taking a backseat to Hulu.com.  “30 Rock” is premiering this Thursday on Hulu, a full week before NBC will air the episode. 

This is not the first time NBC has shown off its television shows online before the television broadcast.  The short-lived “Andy Barker, P.I.“ debuted on NBC.com several weeks before ever appearing on television.  That show didn’t catch on, but this is “30 Rock,“ one of NBC’s bigger properties. 

NBC probably has seen an increase in traffic to both Hulu and NBC.com with the upcoming presidential election and Tina Fey’s spot-on Sarah Palin impression.  Seeing this trend, perhaps NBC actually understands that the online component of television is viable. 

I’m sure some will opt to watch the broadcast in HD over watching on Hulu, but this is a good step for NBC.  Hopefully, other networks will follow suit.

Watch [Hulu.com]

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You must have heard all the hype about Hulu by now.  How it gives you the ability to watch your favorite shows online, any time you want.  How it’s easy to use, and so convenient.  How it is—(drum roll here)—FREE.

Granted, there are several different places you can go to watch different television shows, but, I’ve found that for reliability, Hulu is really way up there.  Now, I know my title said TEN reasons, but, I couldn’t knock it down to just ten.  So I’m going with eleven reasons to Hulu.  I know, what a rebel.

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Sections: Video, Content, Video Providers, Gadgets / Other, Household, Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Originals, Web, Web 2.0, Web Apps, Web Browsers, Websites, Online Music/Video

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

“straight talk,“ add Hulu to the list.  Who cares right?

Here is why you need to care:  It is all about money.  Click more to find out.

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Sections: Video, Content, HDTV, Gadgets / Other, Household, Web, Web 2.0, Websites, Online Music/Video

The typically content-stingy NFL has made the decision to broadcast it’s games live over the net.  Heck yeah!  This is super-exciting news not just for sports fans but for those who can’t wait for the TV to Internet transformation.  Soon your TV won’t be held hostage to the Cable company for content.  And content is king.

Those of us that caught the webisodes of Joss Whedons Dr. Horrible know that good stuff can be made just for the net and it has the interest of a lot of indie type players to widen our content options.  TV as internet will do for TV shows what the internet is doing for music.  You’ll find new stuff you never even knew was out there.  Build your own TV station.  The trick is, can anyone figure out how to make money off it.

NBC will be selling the predictable advertising that will go along with the stream.  Surely, we’ll be forced to sit through some pitch for an amazing new laundry detergent.

Now that the NFL is jumping on board, how can the rest of the non-concussed content makers not take notice?

Read [ars techinca]

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The Summer Olympics are set to take place in Beijing this year, and of course, NBC will be there to broadcast every event. However, with technology becoming more popular and more important in everyone’s busy lifestyle these days, NBC is planning to use the internet to its advantage.

They recently partnered up with Wavexpress, a digital content provider company, and these two companies are set to make every event available for download. Basically, how this works is that people who are interested in this and have Vista Media Center PC will be able to schedule when they want to receive the events and choose which events they want to receive. After entering in all that information, the events will automatically update onto your PC or laptop, through a website called TVTonic. These videos will also come in near HD quality, which makes watching the videos almost as nice as watching them live on an HDTV. Finally, the best part of this deal is that it’s free, however, I would imagine there would be some ads on the video, but NBC doesn’t shed any light on whether they are adding advertisements to their videos.

“This service will provide a fantastic viewing experience for Olympic fans with Windows Vista Media Center,” said Michael Sprague, president of Wavexpress. “They can choose their favorite sports, from diving to water polo to gymnastics, and extended coverage is automatically synchronized to their PC in the middle of the night. With a laptop, they will get a high-quality video experience to view on the train, the plane, or in the college quad.”

Look for this service to be launched when the Olympics roll around in August, beginning on the 8th and running through the 24th.

Read [NBC] Via [Gizmodo]

• Do you Hulu yet?  Here are ten shows that make it worth it.
• “30 Rock” to premiere on Hulu before it hits NBC
• YouTube’s political blood spilling.  Stealing the election via the net

Sections: Video, Content, Computers, Software / Applications, Web, Online Music/Video