(Feb. 23, 2009) NEW YORK: CBS said it could stream its content anywhere it darn well pleased after online aggregator Hulu asserted otherwise. Hulu.com the online TV repurposer owned by News Corp and NBC Universal, last week pulled CBS shows licensed to Hulu from CBS’s own stream site, TV.com. Hulu said it had contractual rights to the content. The company also blacked out Boxee, a popular freeware media player, from playing Hulu content. The Washington Post reported that Boxee generated 100,000 streams for Hulu the week before it was shut out.
Hulu chief Jason Kilar said in a blog entry content providers requested the move.
“The maddening part of writing this blog entry is that we realize that there is no immediate win here for users,” he said. “For those Boxee users reading this post, we understand and appreciate that you're likely to tell us that we're nuts. Please know that we do share the same interests and won't stop innovating in support of the bigger mission.”
CBS meanwhile responded to the Hulu gesture with one of its own.
“CBS Interactive is well within its rights to stream Hulu video content on TV.com under its agreement with Hulu. We are evaluating our next steps at this time,” the company said.
Hulu.com and TV.com both hurt for decent search metadata.
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