Hulu.com, a website created by NBC Universal and Fox that legally hosts TV shows and feature films, launches to the public tomorrow. It is predicted to rival other video sharing websites, especially Google's YouTube. The difference with Hulu, reportedly, is its user-friendliness and professional quality material.

Warner Brothers, Sony Pictures, MGM, and other big name media companies have already signed on to add content onto the libraries. According to the New York Times, the only major non-participants are ABC and CBS. Additionally, sports fans will be able to find highlights from N.B.A. and N.H.L. games as well as full length N.C.A.A. men's basketball games from the past 25 years.

Viewers will be given a choice, depending on the show, with which commercials they want to see. Some viewers will even have the opportunity to watch a 2 minute film before the show which eliminates all commercials for the rest of the show.

The Sydney Morning Herald's new video production studio is up and running. The studio is part of their integrated newsroom located in the new Fairfax Media headquarters.

Ian Vaile, director of Fairfax Digital Productions, described it as "a powerful and flexible high-definition studio, using the most cost-effective, modern equipment, including a revolutionary software-based video-switching and production system."

Vale said the studio was designed for "fast-turnaround segments." The automation within the studio means set designers can return to pre-programmed equipment settings "at the press of a couple of buttons."

"This will dramatically speed up production and make it easier to use," Vale said.

The studio contains an edit suite, centralizing all stages of video production on the news floor. A presentation desk will be set up shortly close to the news-editing hub.

A larger video studio at Fairfax Media's headquarters is also nearing completion.

Live video streaming if the future of newspapers videos online, according to Charles de Vroede, deputy chief editor of Dutch newspaper de Telegraaf.

"I believe the future is in live streaming - for me live streaming is the missing link between newsgathering and newswriting."

De Vroede's comments come just after YouTube announced it would be implementing live video streaming within the end of the year.

According to him, other video formats lack immediacy. De Telegraaf staff is already using cameras with live streaming capability, in order to cover entertainment news stories.

"News videos online quickly become very old. For a newspaper in print that's not a problem, because everything is a day old. Being on the web as a newspaper means instantaneous news and this will happen for video," said de Vroede.

Baz Broekhuizen, editor of Volkskrant TV (competitor to de Telegraaf), disagreed with de Vroede. At this point, live video news is too expensive for newspaper sites to produce, and they produce little or no long-tail effect.

According to Broekhuizen, newspaper videos shouldn't aim to compete with television broadcasters. It should instead focus on video formats that have a longer-term appeal than breaking news items.

Le Parisien draws one million viewers in 24 hours with Sarkozy video: grasping the YouTube effect

A video of the outburst of French President Nicolas Sarkozy against a journalist, shot by a journalist from Le Parisien, has drawn over a million viewers in 24 hours.

Sarkozy's outburst occurred at the annual farm fair in Paris on Saturday, after he offered his hand to a man who said: “Don't touch me, you are soiling me." Sarkozy replied: "Get lost, dumb ass."

The video was posted on Le Parisien's website and by midday Sunday 350,000 people had already viewed it. By 10:30pm on Sunday, more than one million people had viewed Sarkozy's video.

It seems the power of online buzz is just as effective when it comes to news items. The success of Le Parisien's video should prompt newspapers to equip journalists with video cameras and illustrates the highly viral nature of such video content.

Source: Le Parisien (link in French) - Reuters