Hulu to Hurt Cable, Not Google

In TV, the biggest threat for the networks comes from YouTube, and the battle between the video site and the media heavyweights has become heated. Viacom(VIAB Quote), for one, has filed a $1 billion lawsuit against YouTube that alleges copyright infringement of clips from hit shows such as Comedy Central's The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report.

Aram Sinnreich, managing partner with Radar Research, says that while YouTube has dominated the Web video race, it's not a great place to watch network TV shows, such as 24 or Saturday Night Live, in their entirety.

"You can't rely on YouTube for watching your favorite TV shows," says Sinnreich. "If Hulu's launch means that 24 is going to be available online on-demand for free, that's great for consumers and it's going to create a lot of traction. But don't compare it to YouTube. They're competitors in the sense that they have video content online, they want to sell ads and they want to capture user minutes and eyeballs, but other than that, they're completely different kinds of ventures."

Hulu will offer hundreds of episodes of current shows and reruns with none of the copyright concerns that hamper YouTube. Its content has already been edited for television broadcast, and it will be interspersed with short, online ads in places where they would appear on TV.