Hulu must be the future of TV, right?

But the companies that produce the expensive new shows have some conflicting interests.

By working together, Hulu’s network parents hoped to establish it as the go-to Web site for TV — a parallel in some ways to Apple’s iTunes, but controlled by the networks, rather than by an outside company, like Apple, that wanted more content so it could sell more iPods. It was both an alternative to Apple and a shield against the emerging threat of online TV piracy....

The contracts are designed to protect the core businesses, like cable subscriptions and syndication revenue. But they have suppressed the availability of shows on Hulu and have also slowed the implementation of “TV Everywhere,” the industrywide plan for anytime, anywhere viewing....

Would-be buyers [of Hulu] have been assured that Hulu would continue to have exclusive access to network shows for some period of years. But the spigot on free streaming appears to be tightening. The new deals that Hulu signed with ABC and Fox this summer are said to allow for more ads and longer periods between when episodes debut on TV and when they debut online.