News Corp. Shuts Off Hulu Access to Cablevision Customers–And Turns It Back On [UPDATED]

October 16, 2010 at 2:18 pm PT

UPDATE: That was fast. People familiar with the situation say that News Corp. is changing tactics and will turn on access to Fox.com and Fox programming on Hulu for Cablevision’s customers. This could take a “few hours” to roll out across the Cablevision footprint, I’m told.

EARLIER:
One new twist in the Cablevision-News Corp. fight: News Corp. has cut off Cablevision subscribers’ access to its shows on Hulu, the video site joint venture, as well as on its own Fox.com.

Here’s a screenshot from Fortune.com columnist Seth Weintraub, taken this afternoon when he tried to watch a Fox show on the site, which is co-owned by News Corp., Disney’s ABC and GE’s NBC Universal:

News Corp.’s comment, via Fox Networks PR guy Scott Grogin: “Fox.com and Fox content on hulu is unavailable to Cablevision subscribers.”

And here’s Hulu PR rep Elisa Schreiber:

Unfortunately, we were put in a position of needing to block Fox content on Hulu in order to remain neutral during contract negotiations between Fox and Cablevision. This only includes Fox content. All other Hulu content is accessible to Cablevision internet subscribers. We regret the impact on Cablevision customers and look forward to returning Fox content to those users as soon as possible.

This is an important escalation from News Corp. (which owns this Web site) in its fight to extract more dollars from its cable partners.

In the past, cable subscribers who couldn’t get Fox shows during fee disputes were still able to watch some of them via Hulu. I know that News Corp. has discussed shutting off access to the site during past fee fights, but as far as I know this is the first time they’ve actually done it.

It’s also a logical move, at least from News Corp.’s perspective.

If it’s trying to increase the pain felt by Cablevision and its subscribers, it may as well use every tool it has. And in the past, the Web has been used against programmers like Fox in these fights: Last year, when Time Warner Cable was fighting with News Corp., it prepared a video showing customers how to find their favorite shows on sites like Hulu.

But while the move is certain to rile up the digerati (astonished industry executive to me, over the phone, just now: “That is crazy!) I’m not sure how much real impact it will have in the fight.

News Corp.’s most valuable weapon is access to the Phillies-Giants playoff game tonight, and the New York Giants-Detroit Lions game tomorrow.

Both are scheduled to air on Fox, and many of Cablevision’s three million subscribers who live in the New York area will holler loudly if they can’t see them. But they wouldn’t be able to see them on Hulu or Fox.com, anyway.

Instead, those sites are used to show reruns of Fox broadcast shows. That means Cablevision subs can’t see Sunday night’s episode of “The Simpsons” on Monday, but that’s not the same kind of impact.

Tagged with: ABC, access, broadcast, Cablevision, comment, content, contract, customers, Detroit Lions, Disney, Elisa Schreiber, entertainment, escalation, Fox, GE, Giants, Hulu, Internet, joint, MediaMemo, NBC Universa, NBC Universal, negotiations, New York, New York Giants, News Corp., partners, Peter Kafka, Phillies, politics, PR, programmers, reruns, Scott Grogin, screenshot, Seth Weintraub, shows, subscribers, television, The Simpsons, Time Warner Cable, unavailable, video, video site, Web site

comments so far. Add yours.

Anonymous

How did Hulu know their cable provider?
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=604488357 Owen Brown

@duzins users IP address, you can access HULU from cable vision by routing through a proxy server, http://www.http://hidemyass.com/ and enter hulu.com into the address window.
http://www.twitter.com/davidafenton DavidAFenton

Stunning!!
http://www.facebook.com/nathanaeln Nathanael Neveux

most likely because it’s their internet provider – isn’t this illegal?
Anonymous

There’s a lot of information included in your IP address. Many sites take advantage of this fact. Luckily, it is a problem that can be overcome easily with something called a Proxy. These range from simple to complex, but one of the best free one’s I’ve found is a program called TOR. TOR is an interface for a proxy program called Vidalia. For most users, there is minimal setup involved beyond installation. So go grab it, and ignore the petty squabbles of companies who can’t agree on how much to screw us all over.
http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/ PKafka

Don’t see why it would be illegal: See ESPN keeping its ESPN 3 web channel limited to cable providers it has a carriage deal with.
Anonymous

This is messed up. Because I live in Brooklyn and have no other choice for cable providers. Does anyone know any other online providers in Brooklyn? I may cancel Cablevision just due to the sheer inconvenience.
Anonymous

This is why cable television is going the way of the dinosaur. Noone needs a bundle of internet, phone and TV… you get all of the above with JUST high speed internet, and it costs less for both customers and providers to just focus on bandwidth.

New Corp is just livid that they are no longer as powerful in media, because consumers do not need their most direct services any longer. We’ll watch their content, but not through their most profitable avenues. We’ll watch it where it’s cheapest for us to do so.

I’ll be VERY interested to see how this plays out; denying access to internet content based on municipally agreed upon and supported cable provider monopolies. It’s already promising to be a really good show.
http://twitter.com/StrategicMac StrategicMac

So if you’re already paying for HULU, they block you?
Gideon Klok

Steps like this will just move even more people into the Darknet of unauthorized downloads. See http://bit.ly/9xP11r

Just google for “avi”, space, the showname dot “S” 2 digit season number dot “E” 2 digit episode number and be amazed to see what you can find. How many people will return to hulu once they figured out the darknet?
http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/ PKafka

great question. moot for now, it seems.
Anonymous

For those who PAY for hulu, how exactly could they do that to you?
Anonymous

Perhaps if NewsCorp’s advertisers were boycotted by viewers, then maybe FOX would stop being such a greedy bully.
Anonymous

That is different. Unlike FOX (and it’s substations including myNetwork brand), ESPN is available only though TV service providers; FOX broadcasts over the air and is available to anyone within service area of the local station. ESPN3 is blocked to everyone except it’s clients (simple business), FOX was blocking only a small portion of people for no real (legal) reason (usually you get sued for discrimination).
Anonymous

I’m in Brooklyn and my only “choice” is time warner. What they do in new york is split up the territories between them so they don’t compete with each other and can price gouge and limit service to their heart’s content.

There’s a coverage map somewhere on the nyc.gov site. It’s pretty flagrant.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_WJZ6VKISLZXCNWCPHSCXUWQJDQ Mike K

BUST up this throw-back GREEDY – MONOPOLY/JUST LIKE THE PHONE COMPANY ,IN THE PAST….?
http://www.facebook.com/stephen.feller Stephen Feller

I guess this is an indication that Dish Network subscribers can expect the local Fox network to get cut off too. Schmucks.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1422573270 Michael Interbartolo III

hulu blocks certain browsers like Boxee and google tv so I don’t see how this would be any less legal. they can block content to those outside the US so now they can block those who are with cable companies they are negotiating with I guess.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1422573270 Michael Interbartolo III

what about satellite? or you could go with digital rabbit ears and convertor box for Fox.
http://www.twitter.com/davidafenton DavidAFenton

Can’t put my finger on it yet, but there’s something creepy about blocking Internet content based on an unrelated contract dispute.
http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/ PKafka

What’s happening here is that the TV industry is trying to change the “unrelated” part of the equation. After a few years of putting TV up on the Web for free, they’re moving toward a model where you have to pay someone — a cable company, a telco, satellite, whomever — for access to TV shows on the Web. What’s funny is that both Cablevision and News Corp. are on the same big-picture page here — neither one thinks you should be able to watch “The Simpsons” without someone, somewhere, paying for that experience.
http://www.twitter.com/davidafenton DavidAFenton

yep I can see that, and I respect the right to charge for premium content, but this should be implemented via paywall…not based on how I might happen to be connecting to the site.
http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/ PKafka

I’m not arguing on their behalf. But, for argument’s sake — what they’re
trying to build is very much a paywall. If you have a subscription deal in
place with carrier who has a deal with them, you get to bypass the paywall
(or, if you’d like, you’ve already paid). If you don’t, you have to pay for
it another way: DVD, iTunes purchase, or perhaps, a deal with someone like
Hulu Plus.
Anonymous

to all those companies that say that there is no need to mandate net neutrality… this is exactly what will happen when companies are allowed to differenciate access according to their own business priorities.The cablevision internet customers paid for internet access, it has nothing to do with their cable programming. they are being discriminated against because they happen to be cablevision cable subscribers.
http://www.youtube.com/profile_favorites?user=heywally heywally

“News Corp.’s most valuable weapon is access to the Phillies-Giants playoff game tonight, and the New York Giants/Detroit Lions game tomorrow.”

Streaming NFL football. Dump cable ….
http://godlessliberalhomo.blogspot.com/ libhomo

I no longer have cable. I refuse to get cable or dish TV until Rupert Murdoch’s networks are absent. Rubert Murdoch is a dangerous foreign enemy of the United States of America, and it is my patriotic duty as an American not to finance his attacks against my country.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Michael-Fremer/100000858823735 Michael Fremer

By an antenna, watch over the air. It looks and sounds better anyway. After all our “socialist” government (luckily) mandated tuners in all HDTVs, so you have the tuner. All you need is the antenna…a good indoor HDTV antenna will work in most NY metro area sites.
http://twitter.com/madhi19 madhi19

This may sound stupid but if you can’t get the game tonight on Cable you might want to try a DTV antenna! Chance are if you are a Cablevision subs you can get a Fox affiliate DTV signal!
Anonymous

Switching to Fios, Cablevision raised me $50.00 a month and didn’t care when I called them to discuss it, they said to go with Fios! With all there hikes they can afford to pay Newscorp!
Anonymous

I tweeted about that same thing and the reply I got back from Hulu support said they only blocked the free content, Hulu Plus subs could still get there. How many Cablevision customers that was, who knows. I bet a very small number.
Anonymous

$27 gets you a fabulous HDTV antenna.
http://shattersense.com/ Shattersense Web Design

cablevision isn’t up to speed on it’s bribes?
i guess you’ll just have to watch ur tv on megavideo instead of making hulu some money through ad revenue
greed shoots itself in the foot once more