Just a little over a week since the ABC launched their iView service for video on demand, executives from Hulu, the NBC/News Corp video streaming service from the US, have flown into Australia to meet with all the Australian networks to try and launch Hulu down under.

According to the SMH, all three free-to-air networks have met with Hulu, and seem to be fairly optimistic about the proposition, although whether or not we see an Australian version could come down to what kind of business deals are offered to the local networks.

But most interesting is the fact that network executives are also considering using the ABC's iView to do the same thing - act as a central content hub for programming from all the Australian networks.

The ABC just sent out a press release stating that in the first 24 hours after going live, their iView online service has had 58,000 unique vistors, 130,000 views and they streamed 2.3TB worth of video.

If that doesn't indicate that there's a market for free, easy and legal video downloads online, then nothing ever will. So Channels 7, 9 and 10... When are we going to see a decent offering from you guys?

And while we're asking for stuff, how long until we get some more local TV programming on iTunes? Come on networks - stop dragging your feet. You're losing money and credibility.

[ABC iView]

Hot on the heels of last night's announcement that the ABC would be launching its online video service iView, iiNet sent out a press release stating that they would be offering unmetered downloads for all iView viewing.

Couple that with their unmetered downloads for iTunes, the recently launched TV shows on iTunes and rumoured upcoming movie downloads on iTunes, and all of a sudden, iiNet is looking like it's the ISP to go with for your video entertainment needs.

Of course, the ABC states on their iView site that they are still in discussions with other ISPs to allow iView to be unmetered downloads, but how those discussions pan out is still yet to be determined.

Last night, the ABC proved once again that they're better than all the free-to-air networks by launching their new iView video download service. You might remember it from its beta stage, when it was known as Playback.

Unlike the Playback beta, which suffered from a serious lack of programming, the new iView service offers plenty of shows from ABC1 and ABC2, including Doctor Who, The Gruen Transfer, The New Inventors, The Einstein Factor and Echo Beach - and that's just in the Catchup section. There are also new, dedicated channels like ABC News, which features all the latest news and current affairs programming from Aunty, plus ABC Kazam! (which has kid's programming), ABC Docs for documentaries and ABC Arts for all those arty programs your parents like.