(29 October 2007 3:00 pm)

MUMBAI: In a bid to transfer the free ad-supported TV model to the web, NBC Universal and News Corp have unveiled the public beta version of their joint venture Hulu.com.

The online video site allows users to share entire shows and their clips as well as easily upload them to personal webpages, blogs or MySpace.

Initially, it faced skepticism since the only content providers included News Corp, NBC and distributors Comcast.

However on the eve of the site's launch, the two companies have announced content deals with Sony Pictures Television for 40 television series and MGM for an undisclosed number of TV series and feature films.

The movies on the site have been edited for TV. Short ads will appear online in places where commercials would appear on TV.

Hulu's will legally offer hundreds of episodes of current shows such as NBC's 30 Rock and Fox's The Simpsons, apart from older shows like Lou Grant and Lost in Space.

The shows will be available on the site, as well as on distribution partner web sites such as AOL, MSN, MySpace, Yahoo and Comcast.