Hulu CEO Jason Kilar announced in a blog on Friday that he'll be stepping down in the first quarter. While the news was not unexpected, the timing was certainly a surprise.

Rumors started circulating in August that Kilar was on his way out. But the announcement came just days before the Consumer Electronics Show, where Hulu was expected to showcase its Hulu Plus app and its range of original content, and feature the fact that the subscription product is available on nearly every new device at the show.

App-makers are pulling out all the stops to offer holiday-themed games, treats, and tools for smartphone and tablet owners alike. We put together a list of our favorites. (Read More: Hottest Gadget Gifts for the Holiday.)

Amazon is now officially competing on the same playing field as Netflix—not to mention cable TV. The online retailer announced on Thursday it's producing six original comedy pilots for its Amazon Instant Video streaming service.

Here's the best part: Amazon is looking for viewer input.

"We want Amazon customers to help us decide which original series we should produce," said Roy Price, director of Amazon Studios.

Customers will get to watch the pilots, comment and weigh in, and help Amazon decide which to produce into a series. (Read More: Amazon Deal 'Final Straw' for Netflix: Analyst.)

Old media gave its stamp of approval to a new digital media model on Thursday. Maker Studios closed a $36 million round of funding, including $25 million from Time Warner.

Never heard of Maker? You've probably watched one of its low-budget, yet professionally-produced videos on YouTube; it's one of its most popular professional content providers.

The funding also includes Los Angeles venture capitalists Greycroft Partners and GRP Partners, as well as Robert Downey Jr.'s Downey Ventures, Elisabeth Murdoch—the investment company for former News Corp exec Jon Miller—and Academy Award-winning producer Jon Landeau.

Facebook is testing a new feature that would allow users to pay $1 to send a message to a stranger's inbox.

Users are able to send messages to users they are not connected with on the social network for free, however, the message is delivered into the recipient's 'other' folder and not into their direct inbox. The trial feature would make it so the message is more likely to be viewed by the recipient.

"Today we announced a test that will give a small number of people the option to pay to have a message routed to the Inbox rather than the Other folder of a recipient that they are not connected with. This is only only for personal messages between individuals in the U.S. In this test, the number of messages a person can have routed from their Other folder to their Inbox will be limited to a maximum of one per week," a Facebook spokesperson told CNBC.

The paid messaging feature is still in trial-mode, but Facebook has been ramping up its paid services for users.

In October Facebook launched a service that allows users to pay to promote their personal posts. Basically users can pay $7 per post and it will bump whatever they shared to higher placement in their friends' news feeds. (Read More: Facebook Wants You to Pay to Promote Personal Posts )

Concerns about the fiscal cliff are weighing on the VC community, but investors and CEOs of venture-backed companies still see some bright spots in 2013, like emerging markets and health care IT.

The National Venture Capital Association has released its "Venture View Predictions Survey Results," a survey of more than 600 VCs and CEOs of venture-backed companies. The verdict: "pockets of optimism despite ongoing uncertainty.," according to the 2013 Venture View predictions survey.

First, the Ugly: The fiscal cliff continues to loom large, and the respondents see the federal government having unprecedented influence over the growth or stagnation of the industry. Both VCs and CEOs predict fewer available VC dollars, though more than two thirds of the CEOs surveyed plan to raise money anyways.

On Monday, Nielsen and Twitter announced a "Nielsen Twitter TV Rating," which aims to give programmers and advertisers more information about the so-called "second screen"—i.e. all that tweeting about television shows on Twitter.

The two companies call the new rating, which will launch with the fall 2013 season, a "syndicated standard metric around the reach of the TV conversation on Twitter."

"A social TV rating is critical to understanding today's full audience, from what they watch to what they do while watching," said Steve Hasker, Nielsen's President, Global Media Products and Advertiser Solutions. "For advertisers, this is a game-changer as they work to get their message in front of the most engaged audiences."

On Wednesday, Coinstar finally revealed the long-awaited details of "Redbox Instant by Verizon," its DVD rental and digital moving-streaming service that the company said will cost $8 per month.

This direct attack on Netflix sent Coinstar up as much as 4 percent, while Netflix shares traded nearly 8 percent higher.

The Redbox Instant announcement wasn't the only news moving the space today—Morgan Stanley's Scott Devitt issued a research note reiterating its "overweight" target on Netflix and raising its price target from $80 to $105.

Bilbo Baggins is under a lot of pressure. Not only does he have to free a dwarf kingdom, but MGM is counting on him to pave the way for its IPO.

After filing a preliminary filing with the SEC this summer, MGM held off on plans to go public. The studio waited, hoping that strong performances from James Bond '007: Skyfall,' co-produced with Sony, and the first film in the Hobbit trilogy.

Entertainment industry economist Harold Vogel says he expects MGM to file for an IPO in March or April, between the flood of revenue from 'Skyfall' and 'The Hobbit.'

(Read More: Live Like Bilbo in a Rental Hobbit House)

Despite mediocre reviews, the 3-D "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," is expected to set a record for the biggest opening ever, with $80 million at the U.S. box office.

Midnight showings at 3,100 theaters brought in $13 million, $1.6 million at Imax theaters. With no other major film opening this weekend 'Hobbit' will face little competition, and will benefit from the fact that it's in 3-D as those tickets cost as much as $3 more than a regular movie.

Two of the heaviest hitters from different parts of the innovation economy — Google Chairman Eric Schmidt and Twitter CEO Dick Costolo — spoke about the power of technology, education and innovation as part of the New York Times' Dealbook conference on Wednesday.

Google's Schmidt weighed in on the biggest issues facing Silicon Valley — and the U.S. economy. The interview, by the Times' Quentin Hardy, drew out Schmidt's greatest concerns and best solutions

Schmidt said the U.S. economy faces three big problems: globalization ("China won't let me raise my prices"), automation, and demographic problems (an insufficient number of young people to fund old people's retirement).

"What I would like is for political leaders to solve all three at once," Schmidt said. "I would solve all these problems. I would invest more in education."