Recently, Disney acquired 30 percent of Hulu for an undisclosed amount. It hasn't gone unnoticed by advertisers that Hulu has eclipsed YouTube in videos viewed in March, and Hulu is expected to generate US$120M in ad revenue this year. With the linkage to Disney via Steve Jobs, one has to wonder whether Apple will use this event to leverage the Apple TV.

While YouTube is still bigger in other specific metrics, advertisers like Hulu's business model for protecting IP and advertising ROI. Also, Google has been slow to monetize YouTube for general TV viewing and has irritated some content owners in the past. Hulu is on a roll.

Of course, there is a never ending debate about advertising supported content vs. paid content and no commercials, as on the Apple TV. There are those in the TV industry who believe there will always be a place for advertising supported, that is, free content, whether it's on broadcast TV or the Internet. That said, does Apple have a particular axe to grind to support only its current business model on the Apple TV? I know of no concrete evidence to support that notion.

As we know, just about anything can be achieved if there's common interest combined with the transfer of funds, even if behind the scenes. So, for example, what if Apple decided that competing with Netflix and others is more important than sticking to a strictly paid content model?

Apple TV: So Far, Just a Hobby

Apple could, for example, offer to place Hulu on all of its million or two Apple TVs in place. In exchange for that increase in exposure to the home audience -- before some other technology takes the issue out of Apple's hands -- Apple would receive, say, a percentage of Hulu's advertising revenue. This might be a good time to move in before Ethernet enabled HDTVs ship standard with Hulu access.

While the money Apple would make would be small, it could also be an accelerator that would propel Apple TV sales. After all, customers want choice, and the option to watch Hulu content for free probably wouldn't entice a lot of Apple TV buyers to stop buying content deliciously free of commercials. History suggests it would increment, not decrement Apple TV revenue.

I see a window of opportunity here for Apple. The pluses outweigh the single-minded obsession with paid content only on the Apple TV:

1. Countering Netflix - a company also on a roll.
2. A new revenue source. Apple loves those.
3. Strong, new reason for consumers to buy Apple TV

The Disney connection to Apple is hard to ignore, and the Apple TV is much in need of a new business angle that could secure its future.  Perhaps Disney's three new board seats in the Hulu venture and the vision of Disney and Robert Iger is queued up to be introduced into Apple's own psyche by none other than Mr. Jobs.