Why Hulu scares TV execs

The Chicago Tribune reports:

"The appetite for full-length TV shows online was larger than anyone thought or expected," said Bobby Tulsiani, Forrester Research media analyst. "And now people are starting to wonder, do we even need the cable connections?"

The country's largest cable operators aren't waiting around to find out the answer. In recent months, the operators have taken a hard line against cable networks for funneling their shows to Hulu. Some have gone so far as to stipulate that cable networks limit the number of episodes they make available online. Others have imposed an outright ban. The strictures buy time for cable operators until they can develop their own response to Hulu.

That strategy puts cable networks in a corner -- they don't want to jeopardize the multimillion-dollar payments they receive from cable and satellite operators, and so they are approaching the website cautiously. For example, Turner Broadcasting System Inc. refuses to give popular shows like TNT's "The Closer" to Hulu, preferring instead to a handful of episodes on its own website.

An article well worth your time.