TVloop Blog

FX recently pulled full-length episodes of it’s show, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia from Hulu with little explanation regarding the reason.  That of course then impacted the ~30,000 TVLoop fans of the show.  The rationale is likely due to revenue protection as the perception within big media is that online video cannibalizes broadcast viewers which in turn leads to a decrease in advertising revenue for those broadcasts while also leading to lower DVD sales.  Whatever the case, the show has now temporarily returned to Hulu, but for how long no one seems to know.  As Silicon Alley Insider points out, this inescapable reliance on content owners is a key downside for Hulu as it strives to service the needs of its visitors.  I suppose the assumption can be made that Hulu will never lose FOX or NBC content, but the risk is there nonetheless.

The biggest question that Silicon Alley Insider ponders is whether the lack of official online episodes increases the likelihood that consumers will find other means for consuming that content.  From what I’ve seen within the TVLoop applications, the answer is a resounding YES.  While we currently offer users the ability to stream full episodes from ABC.com, Hulu, and Joost which basically gives us content from the four main networks, those videos are only available to US users.  And trust me, we hear a lot of “feedback” from international users that they most definitely are not pleased with that arrangement.  Of course if it were up to me, the episodes would be available worldwide immediately.  But given the complexity involved with negotiating international copyright as well as the sheer amount of dollars involved with said negotiations, I don’t anticipate that problem being solved anytime in the near future despite Hulu’s assertions to the contrary.  So does that mean our international users are out of luck when it comes to watching their favorite American sitcom?  Not hardly.  I see forum posts daily  within TVLoop applications with recommendations and tips on where said content can be located.  By no means do we advocate piracy, but TVLoop is a user-generated community and people are more than willing to help their fellow fans get access to the content they so desperately desire. My recommendation to content owners is to solve this problem sooner rather than later or the revenue fears will become a self fulfilling prophecy.