Nintendo launched the Wii U, its new home games console, in North America on Sunday (Nov. 18). Netflix and Hulu Plus are now both available through the Wii U, and both take advantage of the GamePad tablet controller to offer a second screen experience.

Netflix

Netflix arrived on the Wii U on day one, with existing Netflix users able to access the app by signing in. Non-members are instead invited to sign up for a free trial.

The Netflix app on Wii U takes advantage of the GamePad, the tablet-style controller that is Nintendo’s big idea with this console. Information about whatever you’re watching shows up on both the television and the GamePad, while the latter acts as a remote control while content is being played on the TV.

By selecting the ‘Play on GamePad‘ option playback switches from the TV to the controller, which also supports 1080p video. In this way you can leave the room while continuing to watch whatever content was previously playing on the television.

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Hulu Kids is a new dedicated section for children where Hulu will host commercial-free programming for younger generations. This is something Netflix introduced a while back, but for Hulu it’s a case of better late than never.

The Internet Generation

Children have always been avid television viewers. They’re also very open to new experiences, so many have switched to online options such as YouTube, Netflix, and BBC iPlayer much more quickly and readily than their parents.

This means that the online television portals have a need to cater to this younger generation of viewers, or risk losing them to the competition. With the online video sector still evolving, losing young viewers now could mean losing them for the longterm.

Netflix introduced a section named ‘Just For Kids‘ that is, unsurprisingly, just for kids, some time ago, and now Hulu has finally followed suit.

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Rumors are building that Microsoft is preparing to make a bid for Netflix. Rumors that have helped the Netflix stock price jump considerably. But does the unsubstantiated rumor make any sense, or is it just a shot in the dark?

Microsoft Buying Netflix?

The rumors that Microsoft was preparing to buy Netflix reportedly spread like wildfire around Wall Street last week, with the tipping point likely to have been Netflix CEO Reed Hastings stepping down from the Microsoft board of directors. An incoming acquisition bid could be the reason for this move, but there are many other possible reasons too, including the fact that Hastings is too busy to fulfill his role.

CNET is reporting that the rumors claimed Microsoft is willing to pay $90-per-share to get Netflix. Which seems reasonable, especially as the company is now on the rise again after its troubles of 2011. The rumors meant that Netflix stock rose by over 10 percent on Friday (Oct. 26).

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It looks as though Hulu is on the slide, as the Disney, NBC, and News Corp. co-owned service is reportedly losing viewers at an alarming rate. This could explain why the partners were so keen to sell the company last year.

Hulu Losing Viewers

According to Wedbush Securities using comScore data, Hulu viewership has dropped sharply during the course of 2012. In March users watched 156 hours of content through the website, but by August that had dropped to 56 million hours. As a result Hulu’s market penetration has dropped from 3.9 percent to just 1.5 percent.

This is bad news for Hulu, and it looks as though Providence Equity Partners may have chosen the right moment to sell its stake. The questions over the decline have to be why is it happening, and why now?

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When, on Oct. 14, Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner jumped from a capsule hanging from the edge of space, he broke more than just the speed of sound. He also broke the record for the number of people watching a live stream on YouTube.

Felix Baumgartner

Baumgartner finally jumped from a height of 128,100 feet (2.4 km) after five years of preparing for the stunt. He became the first man to break the sound barrier, reaching a speed of 1342.8 km/h, as well as records for the highest manned balloon flight, the highest parachute jump, and the greatest freefall distance.

As reported by the Official YouTube Blog, Baumgartner also broke the record for the number of live streams on the Google-owned site, with more than 8 million people watching it happen concurrently. This is compared to the few hundred who usually watch live streams on YouTube.

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Google’s experiment in turning YouTube from the prime destination for videos of funny cats into something more worthy has been successful in its first year. So more channels, including some for international audiences, are on the way.

Original YouTube Programming

This time last year Google announced it was bringing original content to YouTube in a big way, with 100 premium channels being given a budget and told to go away and produce quality shows. New media companies, YouTube stars, and bona fide celebrities were all involved.

A total sum of $100 was handed out, and once channels made the money back from advertising revenues, they then took their cut. Everyone was set to be a winner, and generally speaking that’s the way it has turned out.

According to a post on the Official YouTube Blog, the top 25 original channels are now averaging more than one million video views every week, while the number of people subscribing to these channels has double year-on-year.

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Online video has grown rapidly in popularity over the last few years, going from something only tech-savvy geeks knew about to a mainstream phenomenon even your aging grandparents can handle.

This shift has coincided with streaming video becoming available via more devices, including the once-humble television set. And it’s TV that is now more popular than PC for watching online video.

TV Tops PC

In its new ‘Digital Video Outlook’ survey for 2012, NPD reports that television sets are now the prime method for watching online video. According to the poll it conducted, 45 percent of people use their TVs, while just 31 percent use their PCs. This is a polar shift, as last year the figures stood at 33% and 48% respectively.

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