First there was Hulu, the professional content video site which showed that the web was a real alternative to TV. Then came the Hulu for music videos, Vevo which is set to launch later today. Now we're getting the so-called “Hulu for magazines” which, in case you haven't guessed it, aims to do for print magazines what Hulu did for TV. Conde Nast, Hearst, Meredith, News Corporation and Time Inc. have announced a joint venture which aims to build the standards and technologies to allow users view their favorite magazines on a variety of mobile devices.

"For the consumer, this digital initiative will provide access to an extraordinary selection of engaging content products, all customized for easy download on the device of their choice, including smartphones, e-readers and laptops," John Squires, the venture's interim managing director said. "Once purchased, this content will be 'unlocked' for consumers to enjoy anywhere, anytime, on any platform."

The venture, which doesn't have a name yet, is virtually a no-brainer. Publishers have been bleeding money for the past years and the market is definitely not turning. The only perspective would be online distribution, but the alternatives available don't really look that interesting from their point of view. Most of the websites setup aren't making any real money and the publishers would much rather have their content distributed in a proprietary format and container in any case.

E-book readers are becoming increasingly popular, but these too aren't a real option at the moment as the market is pretty much controlled by Amazon, which isn't so much interested in the devices but rather in the marketplace it built to cater to them. But Amazon controls the market, subsequently the prices, and the publishers would much rather get rid of the middleman.

So, they've now set out to create their own storefront hoping that if they band together they'll have more sway over the device manufacturers. However, the future is far from certain for magazine publishers; even if this succeeds, there's no guarantee that users will start buying the magazines in this format or that even if they do, it will supplement the revenue loss from traditional sales.