We’re a shade over forty days away from the mandatory digital TV conversion.  My thinking at this point is, who gives a shit?  Filmed entertainment (i.e. movies and TV shows) and their delivery systems are progressing so fast that I’m fairly certain by this time next year we’ll be getting content beamed into our brains Intersect style (SAVE CHUCK!).  I just did away with my 5,000 lb. CRT computer monitor and got a sweet flatscreen deal because I watch a lot of content on my computer now.  Hell, Devin’s already made the switch away from traditional aired content.  Yes friends, the internet is taking over and I wouldn’t be surprised if web hits eventually make Nielsens obsolete. 

As further proof of the expanded role of the web in programming, comes the dual announcements that both Disney and Sony have made deals to offer more of their content on streaming sites.  In Disney’s case, it’s Hulu, and for Sony, it’s Crackle.  Disney has signed onto Hulu as an equity partner to make available many of its films and its subsidiary ABC TV shows available for ad-supported viewing.  This includes Lost, Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy.  Now that Hulu will have NBC, Fox and now ABC programming, it looks like the aliens are indeed on their way to turning our brains into mushy hors d’eouvres.  Hulu is now the #2 site for streaming video behind only YouTube.

Said Anne Sweeney, ABC television Group Chief: “We found that all of the network sties from the various TV networks
are performing well but they’re really super-serving their core viewers
— people who would naturally be inclined to go to a network’s
website,” Sweeney said. “But we’re seeing very fast growth in casual
viewing online through these big online video aggregators (like Hulu),
and that’s something we hadn’t tapped into yet. It’s one of the things
that made us think that Hulu was the next step for us.”

In the case of Sony, they’re making a significant number of their films available on its proprietary video site, Crackle.com.  These include Spider-Man 2, Groundhog Day, Stripes, A Few Good Men, 1941, El Mariachi, Big Fish, The Fan, LaBamba, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Johnny Mnemonic, and several installments of the Godzilla franchise.  Crackle has also brokered a sharing deal with YouTube in order to drive more content. 

I say the more access we have to content the better, so I’m always for deals like this.  And if they can work in that instant kung fu master training as a side benefit, all the better (SAVE CHUCK!).

via Variety