Traditional satellite TV providers are facing a number of very real threats from all sides as Comcast and NBC join forces and satellite TV becomes available online. Hulu, a wildly popular free video streaming website has made the whole process that much more complicated. As Hulu sets up to start providing increased content for a subscription fee satellite TV providers can start to feel the crunch.

Hulu is announcing a subscription option for their services that would open up more content than what is currently offered for free. At $10/mo they expect a lot of users to sign up, and that may mean canceling their current cable or satellite TV services.

With Hulu currently in talks with CBS, Viacom, and Time Warner they can position themselves as the leaders in online video streaming. They already have a substantial lineup consisting of Fox, ABC, Lionsgate, MGM, MTV, NBC, Paramount, Sony, PBS, Warner Bros. and more.

If a paid subscription model works for Hulu is could spell real trouble for satellite TV providers and could mean start the slow downfall of the middlemen.

In the past middlemen have not fared well when the internet enters their field. Look at bookstores and Amazon, video rentals and Netflix, record stores and iTunes Store, Newspapers with blog and classified ads with Craigslist. We may soon be adding satellite TV and cable services to that list.

Ultimately, television networks and the ISPs hold most of the cards. TV networks control the content and the ISPs determine download speeds and video quality. With traditional cable and satellite TV providers virtually cut out of the internet television market altogether there is little they can do to compete and ensure survival.

Attribution: Subscription Hulu: Beginning of the End for Cable, Satellite TV?

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