News Corp. (NWS-A) and NBC Universal (GE) have finally come up with a name for their joint venture, the companies dubbed the new video web site "Hulu."
The companies said the site will go into beta in October for a limited number of users. The trial launch was originally set for September.
Concerning the naming of the site, Hulu spokeswoman Christina Lee said, "We just wanted a name that is short and easy to spell. We like the idea that it rhymes with itself. We wanted a fun name."
It's funny when you think it took these two companies took five months to figure out the four-letter name.
Anyone wanting to be part of the testing process can submit their email address at the hulu.com site and see if they'll be allowed to partake in the testing.
I wonder why the companies are taking so long to get this going. Even though they don't consider themselves as competing directly with YouTube (GOOG), the comparison has and will continue to be made to some degree.
With that in mind, I think either they are struggling to offer something that is able to differentiate itself - as professional content is growing online - or they may be putting off the launch to build a pent up demand.
Either way, a lot of people are looking on and waiting expectantly to see if this may become a category killer. One group of people that are definitely waiting and hoping for the best are ad agencies and companies looking for trusted content in the online video advertising space.
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