Written by Chris Albrecht
Posted Thursday, June 4, 2009 at 10:30 AM PT

For Boxee CEO, Hulu Desktop Brings Hope

Given the sometimes contentious public relationship between the two companies, we were curious to find out what Boxee CEO Avner Ronen thought of Hulu’s recent launch of its desktop app. Sure, we read his response via Boxee’s corporate blog — but what did Ronen and Co. really think?

We cornered Ronen at the Connections Conference to find out what kind of fist-shaking went through Boxee HQ the day Hulu broke the news. Ronen is not one to shy away from public debate, but his attitude was downright congenial towards Hulu during our talk.

While Ronen was surprised by Hulu’s move, he said it was a good surprise since it basically validates the lean-back experience Boxee has been working on; and if Hulu has bought into the 10-foot browsing, maybe other media companies will, too. Ronen holds out hope the two can mend fences. (Hopefully, he’s not holding his breath.) Check out Ronen’s full thoughts on Hulu’s desktop app in the video below, as well as the new TV-friendly browser YouTube launched this week.

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Topic: Distribution

Comments (3)

Would be great to see these guys play nice together.. No reason they can’t be friends. It’s time these people started embracing what each one of them brings to the table.

The Fuzz — 6:21 AM on June 5, 2009 Reply
I could only watch the first 17 seconds of this video, I tried multiple times to watch it in full but it’s not working properly. Just thought I would share that information.

Jeremy — 11:00 AM on June 5, 2009 Reply
@Jeremy,

I’m not having that problem either on our site or at Blip. Can you try watching it here http://blip.tv/file/2197959 and see if you’re having the same issue?

Thanks

Chris Albrecht, NewTeeVee — 12:10 PM on June 5, 2009 Reply

Linkbacks (8)

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Boxee CEO Discusses Hulu’s Desktop… — 11:02 AM on June 5, 2009
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Boxee CEO talks about Hulu Desktop | My Philly… — 2:10 PM on June 5, 2009
[...] Chris Albrecht over on NewTeeVee has a video interview with Boxee CEO Avner Ronen thought of Hulu’s recent launch of its desktop app. He also talks about the new TV-friendly browser YouTube launched this week. Also check out my post about why Hulu doesn’t quite much care about Boxee. [...]

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