Comcast has bought a controlling share in NBCU.  Maybe you’ve heard.

Just what this means for hulu is now topic du jour.  For those unfamiliar with the service (are there any left?), hulu is a browser-based premium video website that launched a year and a half ago as a NBC/Fox joint venture and has since became wildly popular (and deservedly so: on a technical level, the streaming is very well implemented, and on a user experience level, the UI is  very cleanly designed).  Since April, when Disney bought into hulu, CBS has been the only major broadcast network left outside of the hulu fold.

More than any other service, Hulu was looking like the future of premium online video.

Then along comes Comcast and makes things interesting: the largest company in the vertical industry most threatened by the advent of online premium (non user-generated) video is now part owner in the nascent medium’s industry leader.

As one would imagine, this situation has generated a lot of analyst coverage and speculation.  Although the curious failure on the part of some analysts to recognize the ongoing “consumer electronization” of online video (which we’ve already written about here and here and here) is happening less and less often as a new generation of network-enabled TV hardware continues to roll out, some of the recent Comcast/NBCU coverage still manages to Not Get It.

A prime example is Brian Setzer’s recent New York Times piece, in which the conflict is presented solely as a computer vs. television issue.  While the difficulties hulu has had monetizing its service are noted, there’s no anticipation of what premium internet video at the couch (rather than at the desk) means - no mention whatsoever of the role dedicated network-enabled CE hardware will play (for example, in helping solve that pesky monetization issue by making a more TV-like ad load tolerable).

Perhaps the old-school  ‘computer vs. television’ coverage paradigm will become more uncommon still after next month’s CES show, at which even more internet-enabled CE devices are sure to be announced - in the meantime, don’t forget the importance of hardware in the  future of internet video.