Hulu: The future of TV

The future of TV will focus on “three potent forces” – consumers, advertisers and content owners, according to Hulu.

The company, which has announced a new content deal with Viacom that will see programming from MTV and Comedy Central added to Hulu Plus, said traditional TV has too many ads, which is driving consumers to on-demand viewing.

Hulu believes that consumers want TV to be more convenient – creating their own schedules, on whatever screen they want (including smartphones, tablets and PCs).

The TV company also said consumers are the “greatest marketing force for a good television show” – using social media to promote content. “This is nothing short of a game-changer for content creators, owners and distributors,” the Hulu blog says.

As TV becomes more personal, Hulu predicts that advertisers will increasingly demand the ability to target ads directly to people rather than to TV shows.

Hulu said its video advertising service is around two times as effective as traditonal TV video advertising services. “In the near to mid term, we anticipate being able to generate higher advertising returns than any traditional channel can from their advertising service, for any type of content.”

“We’ve invented patentable technology that has enabled us to deliver much more relevant video advertising and to do so in a manner that generates much higher recall and purchase intent than other video advertising services.”

Hulu expects to make half a billion in total revenues (including advertising and subscription) this year, up from $263 million in 2010 (which was up from $108 million in 2009).

Click here to read Hulu’s blog.