• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, June 8, 2011

Probed by moderator MediaPost's David Goetzl about prospects for Hulu's future, the agency panel all agreed Hulu has done the best job to date of delivering on the promise of the online video experience, but that it will be challenged due to the obvious business issues of its joint parent structure (ie. NBC Universal/Comcast and News Corp.).

"It has been the epitome of everything that is right in the online video space," said Universal McCann's David Cohen, adding, however, "I would imagine that over time there will be erosion of the Hulu base." OMD Digital's Rob D'Asaro suggested that, "over time," Hulu would essentially become another cable channel, albeit one distributed over the Internet.

"Hulu has done the best version of innovation in online video," said Nielsen Online's Jon Gibs, adding, "Unfortunately, their parents are not natural friends and at a certain point their parents won't want to work together."

MediaCom's Renee Whittingstall speculated that the future of Hulu would depend on its ability to innovate despite its parent company issues.

"I think they're going to have to innovate more," she said.