It finally gets a name: Hulu.com
Cory Bergman August 29th, 2007
The News Corp. and NBCU video venture now has a name, Hulu.com. “Why Hulu?” writes CEO Jason Kilar on the site. “Objectively, Hulu is short, easy to spell, easy to pronounce, and rhymes with itself. Subjectively, Hulu strikes us as an inherently fun name, one that captures the spirit of the service we’re building.” Hulu is also accepting invites for the site’s private beta, coming in October.
Related: The LA Times has a story on how “dot com names are getting dottier,” like Xobni, Meebo, Squidoo and my personal favorite, Eefoof.
13 Comments Add your own
1. Steve Safran | August 29th, 2007 at 10:11 am
Three stages in newly named web product:
1. Everyone hates it, makes fun of it
2. People slowly adopt it, forget that they hated it
3. People start to use it either as a verb (”Google that”) or in comparison to inferior products (”It’s no flickr.”)
2. dk | August 29th, 2007 at 10:14 am
why, it’s stupid
i hate it
i still hate it
it’s no youtube
3. tdc | August 29th, 2007 at 10:24 am
i agree w/ safran’s #3.
i was getting tired of using “pets.com” as a verb.
4. Glen | August 29th, 2007 at 10:24 am
Hulu? HuNu?
5. tdc | August 29th, 2007 at 10:32 am
hey,
correct me if i’m wrong, but aren’t you the “glen” seen wearing the revolutionary new ‘idoP’ in today’s off the cuff segment @ theindychannel?
6. Glen | August 29th, 2007 at 10:40 am
I had hoped to be incognito, but since I’ve been called out, I’ll confess.
7. Joe | August 29th, 2007 at 10:59 am
Ha hahahha. “Drive.” Hahh ahaha ha.
8. Steve | August 29th, 2007 at 11:57 am
At least they didn’t call it “Cthulhu”
9. Rick | August 29th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
Interesting that of all the TV shows blurbed on the front page, the majority are News Corp. The blurbs change as the page refreshes, but it seems to generally be a mix of three NBC shows to 11 News Corp.
I also think it’s intereresting that after continuing to insist the site was going to be up by late September, the beta is apparently not going to be up until October.
I’ve heard some promising things about it, but the real challenge is going to be marrying the corporate cultures.
10. Greg | August 29th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
“It’s short and easy to remember”
Translation: it was the cheapest .com address we could afford.
11. fleetwood mack | August 29th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
and you’re all talking about which is exactly what they want.
how easily we get used.
12. Rocker | August 30th, 2007 at 5:51 am
It’s easy to remember. That’s all that matters at this stage. People are going to come to this site to watch their favorite shows, not because of the site itself (in fact, most of the impressions are probably going to be via their distribution partners, not actually on the site).
Beyond easy to remember, any other critical considerations at this stage? None. And Hulu does have the potential to acquire brand attributes, a la Google and Yahoo…but first, it has to be a great product, and people have to find it.
13. Dr. Tim Norris | September 1st, 2007 at 9:16 pm
Hulu Street has it’s companion dating site: HULUST. The kids at Phoenix State University are having great fun at the expense of Jeffey Immelt over there….
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