Even after celebrating a record month of viewing figures, Hulu as platform is fast becoming an experiment that cannot continue in it’s present form. Following on from reports eminating from Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg that Hulu will be dead within two years, there are now fresh fears that the advertising revenue just does not have the return the networks want and require.

The  real money made from  TV advertising comes from the broadcasts on traditional TV.  That’s why the networks are so keen on Nielsen counting online viewing of the same ads that ran on TV within 3 days.

Even if Hulu DOES show those same ads for the 3 days after the shows aired, it added little to no value in the ad sales and so is less relevant in that world.  If they don’t show the ads with the national commercial loads, more people will watch directly from the network’s web sites.

Hulu is in a state of flux right now and doesnt really know what it is. It could and may well be used as a distribution hub, but the question is whether that’s the value the networks participating hoped to extract from it.  Hulu can add more commercials,  perhaps even at a premium, for the long tail shows, but if the long tail isn’t a significant portion of its traffic, that isn’t going to matter much.

Money makes the world go around and Hulu is not bringing home the bacon.

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