AfterDawn: News

Hulu is destroying the TV industry, says Dish VP

Dish Network VP of Online Content Development and Strategy Bruce Eisen has made a bold statement today, saying that popular streaming site Hulu is destroying the TV industry.

"If I can watch Glee tomorrow morning and I don’t have to pay a pay TV service –- I think that’s bad," said Eisen.



Hulu makes new content from Fox, NBCU and ABC available the day after it airs online via Hulu.com, with users getting to watch it at their leisure, with a tiny amount of ads.

Eisen says the shows should only be made available 30 days after they air, and only on authenticated "TV Everywhere" services and devices.

"If people decide that they don’t have to pay for pay TV, then one of the pillars (of the TV industry) starts crumbling," he concluded.

GigaOM also spoke with Greg Kampanis, SVP of Content Strategy and Operations for South Park Digital Studios, who had a completely different take on the situation.

South Park Digital Studios is a site where all previous South Park episodes are available for streaming, from all 14 seasons, with new episodes made available a week after they air. Kampanis says they made the move to create the site after piracy rates for South Park episodes began to explode.

"We were looking at it as a pretty large missed opportunity," he noted. After putting the site up, Kampanis says it is now "a pretty successful online advertising business," and that ratings are higher than ever.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 3 Nov 2010 17:36

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• 13 comments

• hikaricor

  iwantapony

  3.11.2010 18:08 #1

• biglo30

  He is right about Hulu lowering the TV rating, but its just a transition that is taking place and will continue to take place because more and more people are getting online and like having the abilities to watch shows at their own leisure.
  

  3.11.2010 19:17 #2

• CntrySigns

  Dish is clueless! All this hurts is the people who don't know how to find shows using alternative methods. It causes normally law abiding people to resort to shady means to get content online.

  3.11.2010 19:48 #3

• nanu-nanu

  "If I can watch Glee tomorrow morning and I don’t have to pay a pay TV service –- I think that’s bad," said Eisen.
  
  what a moron, Glee is broadcast over the free airwaves. One does not need a pay service to watch many shows on tv.
  
  dumb greedy bastards making an issue out of nothing, just so he can line his pockets.
  
  what is funny is that twat probably has a MBA and darwin is very much part of the economy, Hulu is the fittest for survival.

  3.11.2010 20:00 #4

• defgod

  What a bunch of BS. Whiney ass cry babies. Wow this eats at their bottom line. D'OH If these morons in the tv industry don't wake up really fast they will end up like the music industry. Slowly but surly out of business. Why do these imbeciles always try until their dying days to keep their old dilapidated ways? God someone slap this idiot! Then tell him to change his ways before he ends up like the dinosaurs!
  

  3.11.2010 20:04 #5

• 20TONS

  If it's free to watch, then it's free to watch. There is no way I'm going to pay someone to watch it the next day. If I miss an episode it'll air again some other time for free.
  What they need to do is lower the cost of their VOD service and maybe someone will use it.
  

  3.11.2010 20:37 #6

• spartybob

  I can see Eisen's point, Copanies are in the business of making money. But the fact is you can't stop tech. or what it does to an industry. Just ask the newspaper industry, you either adapt with the changing times or you become like such companies as AOL,GM,K Mart, and all the other rest. I canceled DIRECTV 3 months ago and have not regretted the decision.

  3.11.2010 22:56 #7

• ivymike

  I wonder if I should call Mr. Eisen and ask him if he needs his diaper changed. All he is doing is WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!
  
  What a baby.

  4.11.2010 02:34 #8

• ivymike

  I should add that Mr. Eisen is showing the world why the Media Mafiaa is a bunch of retarded mindless idiots. Arguing about a show as stupid and pointless like Glee? The show is practically begging to be pirated.
  
  If Mr. Eisen doesn't like Hulu, he should abstain from watching it.

  4.11.2010 02:39 #9

• DADEO1

  If there's comments coming from Dish, there must be another page of fine print somewhere.

  4.11.2010 09:59 #10

• Gnawnivek

  I canceled Dish Network last month. They asked me reasons, I told them I stream from Netflix and use Hulu.
  

  Peace!

  4.11.2010 12:33 #11

• HeyRadar

  Ha! I bet the cable companies cried the same way when Dish launched their satellite.
  

  4.11.2010 13:31 #12

• BigDDub

  Where I live, we don't get Cable or OTA. My only options were Dish and Direct. I tried both. Terrible reception, and lousy customer service are why I left. Out of desperation, I found Hulu. Now, between Hulu and Netflix streaming for movies, I watch all my favorites, free.
  
  While there may be occassional glitches, I have a computer hooked up to my 67" 1080P TV, and wouldn't go back to Direct or Dish if THEY PAID me.
  
  What does ""If I can watch Glee tomorrow morning and I don’t have to pay a pay TV service –- I think that’s bad," mean? I used to live where I could pick up tv programming over the air. That was free. Guess he was refering to Glee being bad.
  
  When I had Dish and Direct, I'd record shows, and then skip the commercials. I now watch more commercials than I have in years.
  
  This guy is an idiot.
  
  
  

  4.11.2010 17:43 #13