Hulu pulls content off Boxee
Just after removing its content from CBS' TV.com, now Hulu does the same with Boxee, saying that its following requests from content partners.
Fresh from removing content from TV.com, Hulu has now requested that Boxee, the maker of media-center software, stop making Hulu's videos available, according to a statement posted to Boxee's blog.
"Two weeks ago Hulu called and told us their content partners were asking them to remove Hulu from Boxee," Boxee said in the post. "We tried (many times) to plead the case for keeping Hulu on Boxee, but on Friday of this week, in good faith, we will be removing it. You can see their blog post about the issues they are facing."
Hulu, the video site formed by NBC Universal and News Corp., said in a note on its blog that the problem rests with their content partners.
"Our content providers requested that we turn off access to our content via the Boxee product," Hulu wrote. "We are respecting their wishes."
Boxee CEO Avner Ronen told CNET News that he was disappointed by the decision and attempted to convince Hulu executives that Boxee was good for the video site and its content partners.
"I hope that they will realize the opportunity is greater than the threat," Ronen said
What exactly that threat is was unknown to Ronen and Hulu didn't spell out the reason its content partners were down on Boxee in its blog post.
Hulu's decision to leave TV.com, owned by CBS (parent company of CNET News), is unrelated to the decision to pull out of Boxee, said a source familiar with the negotiations. Hulu said that in the case of TV.com, it was a contractual issue. As for Boxee, Hulu was forced to honor the request of its content providers, the source said.