Hulu to Stream Live Dave Matthews Concert
Hulu, an online video website known for showing full-length television shows and movies, plans to provide a live stream of an upcoming concert by the Dave Matthews Band. The June 1st concert from the Beacon Theatre in New York will be streamed live on Hulu beginning at 9:00 p.m. EST. Following the live stream, Hulu will offer on-demand access of the show.
The live concert will be one of many elements of Hulu’s partnership with the Dave Matthews Band. Starting Thursday, May 28, Hulu will begin introducing Dave Matthews Band videos leading up to the concert. Hulu will also air Dave Matthews Band’s upcoming performances on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and the TODAY show.
Hulu streamed the 2008 presidential debates live, but this concert will be the first time a live music event has been offered on the site. Rival YouTube has experimented with live events as well, having provided a live stream of a press conference by President Barack Obama and a two-hour live feed of a concert / variety show extravaganza in November. With the new streaming concert, Hulu is demonstrating just how much the Web is becoming a rival to live television.
Hulu surpassed Yahoo! in March to become the third largest online video site in the United States. According to research from comScore, the video site had a market share of 2.6% of the videos watched online during the month. YouTube had the highest share with 41% followed by MySpace with 3%. Hulu is a joint venture between News Corp., NBC Universal, and The Walt Disney Co.