Will FOX or NBC dot com ever just use the Hulu player?

I find it quite interesting that ever after the creation of Hulu, NBC Universal and News Corp continue to dump what are probably millions (product development, headcount, ad sales, streaming costs) into parallel broadband video products. I've heard the argument numerous times "consumers still want a brand focused experience" - sure, some do, a small percentage. What most consumers want is easy access to the content that is free of barriers. It's no surprise to me that NBC.com and Fox.com continue to thrive because they are still given the bulk of on air promotion (snipes, ads, etc). It goes without saying that as Hulu's media campaign becomes more robust, their traffic will increase (February numbers confirm this).

Yes, I acknowledge that those inside of each of these companies beleive the Media Brand is king, even though consumers TV patters don't support this. Who really sits down and JUST watches ABC, CBS, or Fox anymore without changing the channel to a show brand that they care about?

There are some large leadership changes taking place at News Corp, with Jon Miller to become the head of everything-and-anything-digital. Will he be the first to look at the digital P&Ls, and in a recession make the "wise" choice to shed products that mirror what News Corp/ NBC Universal are already invested in with Hulu? Fox could easily use the white label version of the Hulu player that sites such as Comcast's Fancast.com implement. They can still keep the brand - and ditch the headcount, product investment, vendor cost, etc. etc. Not a shocking strategy, but it would be a large endorsement of Hulu as the future both in terms of technology and setting the bar on monetization.

I might be off base with this theory as NewTeeVee ran an article this morning touting that "Big Media is getting ready to eat its young." Of course if this was the case then why would Disney be looking to get an equity stake in Hulu? It is very possible that Big Media will decide streaming at their dot coms is worth ditching in support of one global platform.