You might say it is a skirmish in the wider war over content pay walls and other ways content owners want to preserve the value of their copyrights in the online ecosystem.
Consider the move a vote to protect and preserve the value of multi-channel video distribution. that isn't to say content owners are averse to extended online distribution, only to note that, at the moment, the value of multi-channel revenue streams vastly outweighs what Viacom has been able to realize from Hulu distribution.
Comedy Central apparently will continue to stream full episodes of the shows on TheDailyShow.com and ColbertNation.com, where Viacom might believe it can better profit from restricting the content to its own sites.
Hulu executives say revenue for both “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” had been growing. “In the past 21 months, we’ve had very strong results for both Hulu and Comedy Central, in terms of the views and revenue we’ve generated,” says Andy Forssell, Hulu SVP.
Three of the broadcast networks, ABC, NBC and Fox, own stakes in Hulu. Viacom’s decision may suggest that the economics of Hulu make less sense for content providers that lack equity in the Web site.
It isn't as though online availability now will cease. It is simply that viewers will have to navigate to the Viacom-owned sites.
No Daily Show for Hulu
