Hulu踏上没落之路？

     他深信这些媒体老板们多多少少已经对Hulu失去了兴趣。“他们不想让它成功。这就是媒体经济学——如果它成功了，那也是建立在蚕食电视媒体的现金流基础上的，而这个产业要靠收视率吃饭。所以他们决定，不让Hulu的品质太好，或是做得太成功。”

    这些媒体巨头刚开始创办Hulu的初衷很清楚，就是要充分满足观众对网络上电视节目迅速增长的需求，同时防止他们去买盗版。他们认为，点对点的文件分享对视频来说会像对音乐一样管用。这种想法促使他们在节目刚播出第二天就把它们挂到网上。但与此同时，随着基于认证的模式——即如果观众证明自己已为电视付费，就能观看这些内容——证明颇为成功，这种担忧也就烟消云散了。他说：“这种模式使这些媒体公司成功地避免了Hulu直接蚕食自己的收入，同时对Hulu的需求也消失了。”媒体公司可不想拿模拟电视的收入去换数字内容赚来的钱。

    迪斯尼公司的总裁鲍勃•伊戈尔对《财富》杂志发表的一则声明称：“杰森是Hulu发展史上不可或缺的一部分，正是他把它从一个有意思的点子变成一个创新的商业模式，并使之持续发展。我们为他的成就而自豪，我们对他所打造的一切深表赞赏，并且我们和他一样，深信公司的团队有能力推动Hulu致力向前。”而其他的媒体大佬们则没有回应发表评论的要求。

    吉拉尔对Hulu极其投入，曾经对它的前景深信不疑。去年雅虎公司（Yahoo）的斯科特•汤普森辞职后，他拒绝了执掌雅虎的邀约，转而继续请求Hulu的媒体老板们注入2亿美元，帮助Hulu资助更有原创性的节目，以进一步在竞争中巩固地位。但知情人士表示，这些媒体巨头不愿意打开荷包掏钱。毕竟，据2012年11月21日由迪斯尼公司发布的一份文件称，Hulu去年10月已向母公司借款3.38亿美元用于回购普罗维登斯的股份，并向员工支付一笔总额高达1.34亿美元、基于股份的薪酬。

    正是这些情况可能让吉拉尔最终决定低头认输。麦奎维说：“吉拉尔肯定经过了长时间的痛苦思考，最终认定，他向员工承诺过的关于这家公司将会如何如何的话永远也无法全部兑现，而他向市场描绘的这家公司的美好前景也都会落空。我觉得，双方在如何进一步调整商业模式，及在战略上如何打造这家公司存在一些分歧。”

    He believes the media owners have more or less lost interest in Hulu. "They don't want it to succeed," says McQuivey. "It's media economics -- if it succeeds, it will do so by cannibalizing the currency of the television media business today which is television ratings. So they made a decision to make sure Hulu didn't get too good or become too successful."

    When the media companies first formed Hulu, it was aimed at satiating the booming consumer appetite for TV content over the web and to prevent consumers from seeking pirated material. They thought peer-to-peer file sharing was going to do to video what it did to music. That led them to make content available online a day after broadcast. In the mean time, that fear dissipated as authentication-based models -- where people can access programming if they prove they paid for television -- proved successful. "That model allowed the media companies to avoid direct cannibalization and the need for Hulu evaporated," he says. Media firms don't want to swap analog dollars for digital dimes.

    Disney chief Bob Iger said in a statement to Fortune, "Jason has been an integral part of the Hulu story, transforming it from an interesting idea into an innovative business model that continues to evolve. We are proud of his achievements, we appreciate what he's built, and we share his confidence in his team's ability to drive Hulu forward from here." The firm's other media owners did not respond to request for comment.

    Kilar's dedication and belief in Hulu ran deep. He turned down overtures last year to head up Yahoo (YHOO), after Scott Thompson resigned. Instead, Kilar continued to plead with Hulu's media owners, requesting a $200 million infusion to help Hulu fund more original programming that could further differentiate it from competitors. But the media giants were reluctant to open their wallets, according to people familiar with the situation. Afterall, Hulu already had to borrow $338 million in October to buy out Providence's stake and cover a $134 million employee equity-based compensation package in 2012, according to a Nov. 21 filing by Disney.

    This all likely led to Kilar's decision to throw in the towel. "Kilar had to do some long hard thinking that his company was never going to be all of the things he had promised his employees and that he had signaled to the market that company could become," says McQuivey. "I suspect there was some disagreement on the business model going forward and strategically how to shape the company," says Smith.