Hulu to stream presidential debates live
Granted, a live stream of the presidential debate isn't quite as exciting as real-time streaming of popular, network-owned programs like Heroes or 24. But if enough people tune in to watch the debate on Hulu tonight, it could be a powerful demonstration that there's a group of people who want to watch live TV online, not just video-on-demand a day or two after a TV program has already aired on television.
Of course, Hulu isn't the only site that will be streaming debate coverage tonight. As NewTeeVee points out, C-SPAN, ABC, CBS, FOX, Current, CNN, MSNBC, and MySpace will all be streaming tonight's debate. So maybe this isn't so much a first step toward the internet-based future of broadcasting as it is a way for companies to try to build an audience for their online video sites by streaming something that most major networks have access to anyway, and which a lot of Americans plan to watch.


After spending the better part of an hour on 