We have some bad news about Hulu

We love Hulu. With Hulu, you can watch your favorite show the day after it airs, and not pay high TV subscription prices. We also love Netflix because it has pretty much everything else, and again, it’s only like ten bucks a month. BUT (you knew there would be a “but,” right?) big TV companies know that this is how many people watch television and it’s ruining their business. So, their current plan is to upset the system, and that involves removing Hulu’s one advantage over Netflix: next day streaming of on air content.

Time Warner Inc., an Internet and cable provider, is currently in talks to buy a 25% stake in Hulu. And although their investment is not contingent on this fact, Time Warner wants Hulu to stop airing shows in their current season.

Hulu can be seen in two different lights, though. On one hand, it has many current seasons of running television shows, therefore drawing away cable customers. But on the other hand, Hulu gives TV watchers the opportunity to catch up on current TV shows and then dive in on their cable devices mid-season. The Consumerist points out that huge shows like Breaking Bad and Mad Men gained a lot of their audience over time, as their new viewers found the shows on services like Netflix and Hulu.

If Time Warner Inc. has its way and Hulu is forced to forgo next-day streaming, they’ll probably have to focus largely on creating original content. But considering their new show Casual‘s recent Golden Globe nom, and their acquisition of The Mindy Project as a Hulu Original, we have faith in their ability to keep creating (and acquiring) good TV shows to stay afloat.