[zcksjdn]

Right now consumers who watch regular TV have to either set aside time to watch the shows they want or DVR them. They get to pay for and watch a lot of commercials for this privilege. Meanwhile consumers who watch TV shows on Hulu can watch current episodes, and often previous ones they may have missed for free, with only a few minutes of commercials per episode. They have the option of paying(a lot less) for more previous episodes and even whole series. There will always be the people who don't want to/wont pay for anything.

To me it seems like the best deal for consumers is Hulu. If Cable networks focused more on making shows people really like to watch, plus things that require live viewing and also invested more into infrastructure to deliver content to consumers in more than one convenient way, everyone wins. The networks may even be able to get some of the people who generally only download content to use their legitimate channels of distribution if they make it easier.

On top of all of that, if they would offer this service in non US areas, the amount of eyes on their shows, ads and even people willing to pay would be enormous.