Remove unsupported Hulu embed block

[tacitonic]

Describe the bug

The Hulu Embed Block from the default Block Editor cannot embed any links. This error was discovered while creating the Documentation for this block. Different links were tried from Hulu as well as this article - https://wordpress.com/support/videos/hulu/ but none of them successfully embedded the content. There might be a possibility of non-subscribers/paywall or geo-locking preventing the embed.
The console shows that there might be an API fetch error.

CC: @bph

To reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Add a Hulu Embed Block
2. Paste a Hulu link in the text box.
3. Click "Embed"
4. The block will display an error similar to this: https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/support/files/2020/06/soundcloud5.4_8.png?w=700&ssl=1

Expected behavior
The Hulu link gets embedded.

Editor version:

• WordPress version: 5.4.2
• Default Block Editor

Desktop:

• OS: Ubuntu 20.04
• Browser: Chrome
• Version: 83.0.4103.116

[talldan]

There might be a possibility of non-subscribers/paywall or geo-locking preventing the embed.

Possibly. I tried testing using the link from that WordPress.com article (https://www.hulu.com/watch/771496), but I'm in Australia, so this would also be an issue for me. Would be great if someone US based could test this.

[bph]

@talldan
It doesn't work for me in US (Florida) either.

Video: https://recordit.co/WEbLy3XdnR (nothing

No error message in the console.

@tacitonic you wrote "The console shows that there might be an API fetch error." - Would you mind testing it again and share the API error? It might help to track this down.

OS X 10.14.6
Chrome: Version 83.0.4103.116
Gutenberg 8.5.1
WP 5.4.2

[tacitonic]

[youknowriad]

Unless I'm mistaken this is the direct link to hulu's oembed provider

https://www.hulu.com/api/oembed.xml?url=https://www.hulu.com/watch/771496

but as you can see it's not working. I wonder if they silently removed their oembed API?

[bph]

Thanks for scouting this out, @youknowriad
As it seems to be an abandoned service, shouldn't we remove the embed block from the block editor? Or at least add a note to the block, that it might not work and decide on a grace period after which we would remove it with unchanged status.

[youknowriad]

yes, if it's confirmed we'd need to remove both the block and the provider from core too. I'd love for someone else (preferably in the US) to try to confirm that.

[bph]

@youknowriad I can confirm "We'll be back - This page is temporarily unavailable. Please try refreshing the page or go back to the homepage." That this is not working from the US either. Just pinged them on Twitter. But I doubt I'll get an answer.

[bph]

This was the answer: "Apologies for any disappointment! This isn't an available option at the moment, but we'll express your interest. (...)"

Sounds quite noncomittal. It seems to be ok to remove the Hulu block from the block editor. @youknowriad

[talldan]

Thanks so much for testing @bph!

Looks like the previous approach has been to remove unsupported embed blocks - #12759, and then as Riad mentions, also remove the provider code from core - https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/45399.

I've updated this issue and made a new trac ticket for the core task:
https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/50676#ticket

[tacitonic]

I'm new to core, but perhaps I could have a go at this? The task seems simple enough; just have to remove core-embed/hulu from packages/block-library/src/embed/core-embeds.js & then also make the required changes to src/wp-includes/class-oembed.php.
Kindly mention if I missed anything. Could you assign me to this issue @talldan?

[ntsekouras]

Hey @tacitonic! Thanks for stepping in 👍

[talldan]

Sounds great, thanks @tacitonic!

[talldan]

Closed by #23984.

[desrosj]

Just wanted to add this for reference. The Hulu support team responded saying it was not a supported option at this time: https://twitter.com/hulu_support/status/1283562756726300672