Hulu is a bigger threat to cable operators than YouTube is, argues Bernstein Research analyst Jeffrey Lindsay, who has been surveying hundreds of consumers about their internet TV viewing habits.
The reason is that most consumers typically indicate some willingness to pay for professional content, but few say they would pay for user-generated content. And that's where Hulu emerges as a strategic threat to other distribution formats, compared to YouTube, which remains a haven for the sorts of video people say they don't want to pay for.
Hulu has rights to most of professional TV content, is getting viewer traction and most importantly has an advertising format brands understand.
The problem with YouTube is that much of the video is not the sort of fare most advertisers want their brands associated with.
The majority of respondents polled by Lindsay said they would be willing to pay for professional content, for prices ranging from $1 for a TV show to $5 for a movie.
But most would not pay for user-generated content.
The Internet video seems well established, though. Some 74 percent of respondents said they watch internet TV on their computer monitors rather than connecting their PCs to the TV.
Internet TV viewing might for that reason be viewed as ancillary to traditional TV viewing, rather than competitive. But users also watch shorter clips than on their TV, a 30-minute TV show or less in most cases.
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