[Infowarrior] - Disney gets stake in Hulu

[Richard Forno]

Disney gets stake in Hulu, adds shows
http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/04/30/disney.joins.hulu/

Disney this morning said it has obtained an equity stake in Hulu. The  
deal, which puts three Disney executives on the Hulu board, gives the  
studio equal influence along with original founders NBC Universal and  
News Corp. (Fox) in addition to the ability to publish content on the  
streaming web video service. Most of its initial lineup will center on  
current and back-catalog TV shows from ABC and Disney, such as Lost  
and Dancing with the Stars, but should also include "popular library  
titles" from Walt Disney Studios.

The deal represents the first instance of 3 major US TV studios  
offering full-length streaming content on a single site and comes just  
after Hulu has already become one of the top video sites online,  
taking third place behind YouTube and a Fox-specific site with 380  
million clips viewed each month. CBS is the only major broadcaster not  
yet involved.

Disney's step also serves as one of the first distinct moves to offer  
its TV lineup outside of its own ABC.com streaming site or else  
through pay-to-play services like iTunes. Apple chief Steve Jobs sits  
on Disney's board of directors and so has a potential conflict of  
interest, though it's not mentioned whether Jobs was at all involved  
in deciding on the Hulu stake.