I’ll just come right out and say it. It takes a whole lot of motivation to get me to sit down in front of the TV these days. It’s not for a lack of programming, either. Busy schedules, coupled with frustratingly long, routine commercial blocks and steep cable bills are enough to make me look elsewhere for entertainment.

With the online success of Radiohead’s “In Rainbows,” and Nine Inch Nails’ “Ghosts I-IV,” more and more musicians are cautiously jumping ship on their labels in favor of a more direct, and ultimately profitable online-heavy link to the consumer. Now, the motion seems to be rubbing off on whole companies looking to cope and move on in the age of piracy, namely television.

A semi-chaotic online migration is certainly nothing new, there have always been sites willing to stream videos and movies for a price. The question that ultimately arises always seems to be, who is really willing to pay?

In March 2007, NBC Universal and News Corp. joined together in creating Hulu.com. After months of beta testing, the site launched to the public in March of this year. According to their website, “Hulu's ambitious and never-ending mission is to help you find and enjoy the world's premium content when, where and how you want it.”

It goes as such, after making a free account with Hulu, you can stream episodes of your favorite shows anytime you like free of charge, as long as you sit through limited commercial interruption, typically three 15-second commercials per half hour of programming.

As News Corp. owns Fox, popular shows like “Family Guy,” “The Simpsons,” and “24” as well as FX programming like “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia,” and “Nip/Tuck” appear alongside NBC’s “The Office,” “Saturday Night Live,” and “Scrubs.”

Hulu.com also contains a catalogue of obscure cancelled shows as well. The entire runs of cult shows like “Firefly” and “Arrested Development,” can be viewed along with lesser-known cancelled gems like Bruce Campbell’s short-lived “Jack of All Trades.”

Because media content ownership rights in Hollywood and New York is as convoluted and crisscrossed as a junior high dance’s “couples” list, Hulu also offers a variety of movies as well. A barrage of hit-and-miss titles from “Rob Roy” and “Dave Chappelle’s Block Party,” to puzzling additions such as Burt Reynolds’ nearly forgotten 1973 film, “White Lightening” are available for viewing pleasure 24/7.

Hulu isn’t the first one to launch such an initiative. Cartoon Network has been streaming weekly programming selectively for years. Comedy Central’s website also offers current segments of “The Daily Show,” and “The Colbert Report,” for a similar commercial compromise.

However, the newest surprise is coming from one of Comedy Central’s favorite children, “South Park.”

Southparkstudios.com recently posted all twelve seasons of the show fully licensed, with less than two to three minutes of commercial interruption a piece. Viewers can also stream the newest episode of the week, and other episodes of the season as they are systematically released about a month after they air.

Convenience and a matured compromise seem to be the name of the game. While the RIAA is busy wielding its big judicial stick menacingly at the same public it is trying to sell to, a number of artists, producers, and content owners seem to be moving past scare tactics and work around such a rampant phenomenon like online file-sharing.

In an April interview with South Jersey News Online, Hulu spokeswoman Christina Lee remarked, “Piracy is obviously our biggest competitor, and content owners know that those services exist out there."

While a select few networks feel confidant enough to give away start launching their material online, not everyone is so willing to make the jump. For instance, shows like “24” only has about 10 episodes from seasons one and six available. NBC also only offers the current season’s episodes of shows like “The Office,” and “Scrubs” in the same way they do on their website. So far, while the site is convenient, it still feels incomplete or lopsided. FX programming often appears in its entirety, offering up whole seasons, while Fox and NBC shows appear sporadically, or in shortened clips.

It is an interesting experiment that is still unfolding, yet it seems that only a full consensus on behalf of the industry, appealing to the concerns of frustrated viewers, will be enough to ensure consistency and change. Fortunately for us though, we get to watch it all from the comfort of computer desks.

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