Web Shows Get Ambitious

March 21, 2011 at 4:30 am PT

Technology and media companies are racing to create Internet-video hits closer to the scale of traditional TV, as consumers start to watch more video on Internet-connected televisions and tablet computers.

Netflix Inc. on Friday made the most expensive entry in the gold rush, saying it had cut a deal to produce a new drama starring Oscar winner Kevin Spacey on its Internet service. But companies like Yahoo Inc., AOL Inc. and Hulu LLC are also ramping up their efforts to secure original Web productions, investing more dollars in Web shows.

Hulu, an Internet venture focused on distributing traditional TV shows, recently hired a former movie executive to develop more original programs, according to people familiar with the matter. Next up on Hulu’s slate: “The Confession,” an action thriller in five- to seven-minute episodes that stars former “24″ star Kiefer Sutherland. It is scheduled to premiere March 28.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Tagged with: AOL, digital, entertainment, frontpage, Hulu, innovation, Internet, Kevin Spacey, Kiefer Sutherland, Netflix, Oscar, Sam Schechner, tablets, television, The Confession, The Wall Street Journal, TV, video, Web, Yahoo

About Voices

Along with original content and posts from across the Dow Jones network, this section of AllThingsD includes Must-Reads From Other Websites — pieces we’ve read, discussions we’ve followed, stuff we like. Six posts from external sites are included here each weekday, but we only run the headlines. We link to the original sites for the rest. These posts are explicitly labeled, so it’s clear that the content comes from other websites, and for clarity’s sake, all outside posts run against a pink background.

We also solicit original full-length posts and accept some unsolicited submissions.