The NBC/News Corporation joint online video venture Hulu is open to the public today, and what an impressive first release it is!

The service has been in beta test for months, and invitations have been difficult to come by.  But now, anyone can check in and sign up.  And just about every major NBC and Fox network program is there — not just the current program, but also the archives!  The only content you’ll find here is professionally-produced content.  No home-baked Mentos-and-Diet-Coke hacks, and no LonelyGirl laments.  This is the first and best real test of an advertising-financed aggregation service built totally around professional content.

Here are some early impressions:

• Once again, this is an affirmation of how great Flash Video is in providing a wonderful viewing experience.  I’ve written before here that for purposes of our work, the video format wars are over (though I realize that Microsoft is trying to say “not so fast” with its budding Silverlight offering).  But for now, Flash Video gives us content producers a wonderful, high-quality viewing experience on a computer.  When encoded from the original live material, the quality is quite stunning (compare this version of the Saturday Night Live Clinton-Obama 3am phone call sketch to what you might see posted on YouTube, for example):

• As I’ve just illustrated, the power of freely allowing video to be embedded in other sites is a dramatic multiplier on distribution.
• HD video on the web is definitely coming along, as you can see from the movie trailer clip below which is encoded int HD at 1280x720 pixels — essentially the same as a 720p high-definition television set.  And the quality is stunning when played full-screen on my 1440x920 laptop display, with no visible scale-up artifacts.  However, the bandwidth demands are very high — at least 2.5 megabits per second.  I get that on my brand-new Verizon FIOS connection at home, but I’d never try it in the office, where our T1 line delivers half that speed on a good day.  (If you’ve got the bandwidth, check it out at http://www.hulu.com/hd/12589, but make sure you ask it to play full-screen.)
• I’m noting, too, that Fox has not quite gone all-in on its content.  Shows like “24”, that derive a lot of revenue from DVD sales, have only partial libraries available for free on the web.  (Seasons 1 and 6 of “24” are available, while Seasons 2 through 5 are only available on DVD.)
• Still, the budding network — even in test — is illustrating Chris Anderson’s “Long Tail” theory.  Even in its limited test period with tens of thousands of clips and programs online, 80% of the content was viewed at least once per week, according to the folks at Hulu.
• Finally, a portability option is going to be essential.  I’ve gotten hooked on video programming — particularly video podcasts, including news programming like “Meet the Press” and “NBC Nightly News”, and groundbreaking series like the TED Talks.  But rarely do I want to watch them on my internet-connected computer — I carry them with me on airplanes, in the car, and in doctors’ waiting rooms.  But until someone comes up with the essential feedback loop to be able to report on who’s watched which ads in an ad-supported network, the portability barrier will be a difficult one for content-owners to leap.

All in all, a promising first release.  And some healthy competition for Apple iTunes, who once threatened to put a stranglehold on the market.