Paul Smalera

Last week at the WNYC studios in Soho I talked with Bob Garfield, host of NPR’s On the Media about my Boxee/Hulu story for The Big Money. Bob wanted to know what the future holds for a tiny company like Boxee going up against behemoths like NBC, FOX and Comcast. The answer is, it’s going to be a long road, but possibly a fruitful one, depending on how Boxee plays the game. Comcast is new to defending its turf from dot-com upstarts, unlike the music and movie industries. Boxee, at its heart is a classic startup, used to playing the role of disrupter. That sets the stage, but I still can’t tell you what’s going to happen. Click to listen!

On The Media: Transcript of “Boxed In” (February 27, 2009).

Throwing Voodoo at Hulu | The Big Money.

My first piece for The Big Money, part of the Slate family of websites. It’s about a
tiny startup company named Boxee that scared the bejesus out of NBC,
FOX, and probably Comcast and Time Warner too.

The reason? They found a slick, legal way to put Hulu on the
television, totally upending the industry’s business and distribution
models. So big media responded as they know how– they tried to kill
Boxee. Needless to say, the attempt has been as futile as it is tone
deaf. Enjoy!