chuckd21

http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/29/hulu-plus-premium/

The rumors were true. Today, Hulu is announcing a limited launch of Hulu Plus, an ad-supported, premium subscription service that will run $9.99 per month and includes HD access to full season runs of shows from Fox, ABC, and NBC. Better yet, Hulu Plus will work across a multitude of platforms, including PCs, the iPad, iPhone, some Samsung Blu-ray players, and soon, the PlayStation 3. The service is currently only available to select Hulu members who have been invited — you can request an invite here.

Even if you don’t have an invite, you’ll still be able to download a Hulu Plus application on the iPad, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 (it isn’t up on the App Store yet — we’ll update when it is). The application will feature a limited number of episodes, but you’ll be able to get a feel what the service will be like. Hulu says that the service will launch broadly in the coming months.

The new subscription service will feature shows from over 100 content providers, including both current and ‘classic’ episodes. Subscribers will have access to every episode from current seasons of 45 programs from ABC, Fox, and NBC, including Glee, Modern Family, 30 Rock, and The Office through a ‘Season Ticket’ system (see the screenshot below). The service will also offer a back catalog of older shows, some of which will include the entire series run of episodes.

Content will be delivered at a resolution of 720p (HD) when available, and can be downgraded in low-bandwidth scenarios.

Hulu clearly hopes to distribute the service across as many platforms as it can. Along with the aforementioned device partners, Hulu intends to include Hulu support with more Blu-ray players and TVs, including some from Sony and VIZIO. Support for the Xbox 360 will be coming in early 2011. You can see a full list of supported devices here.

This has been a long time coming. We’ve been hearing about an iPad version of Hulu for months now, and rumors have persisted about a possible Hulu subscription for much longer than that. In March Hulu CEO Jason Kilar announced that the company was profitable based on ads that are served against its free videos, but that hasn’t stopped content owners from pushing for a premium offering.

The question now is whether people will pay for it. My hunch is yes, provided the content owners are willing to ensure that Hulu’s library is both current and full of compelling older shows. Hulu isn’t the only company looking to offer premium on-demand video service — Apple has been rumored to be working on one of its own, and Netflix offers some (generally less recent) shows through a streaming service as well.

starman9000

2011 for the 360? Crap. Hopefully Insignia gets it's act together and adds support before that.

Michael Corvin

ad-supported, premium subscription service that will run $9.99 per month on top of Xbox Gold and possibly PS+?

Sorry, am I crazy to think for $10 the ads should be removed?

twikoff

woot woot, i can live with ads

Canis Firebrand

That was my thought as well... Do not want.

Ad-supported implies free but I'll see ads.
Paying $10 a month implies I should not see ads.

They want me to do both? Good day sir... you can keep your Hulu +

chuckd21

I actually don't mind the Hulu ads. One ad per commercial break, it's actually more effective advertising.

What I want to know is how many devices you can use per account.

Canis Firebrand

I actually don't mind them either. But, either show me ads or charge me money and don't show me ads. Do not double dip. That is my issue, esp when its $10 a month.

Michael Corvin

See that's my thought, but on the other side of the coin, I pay $60+ to the cable company and get a shit ton of ads nightly.

chuckd21

Eh, in my brain I'll just see it as it's costing me $10 a month to watch shows on my phone, and on my TV. I use PlayOn, but that thing constantly needs to be tweaked. Plus, if this'll allow me to rewind and fast forward without breaking the stream entirely it'll be worth it.

Canis Firebrand

Wasn't cable supposed to be commercial free, that is the reason it cost? But that was scrapped quickly and the regular cable channels now show the same amount of commercials as broadcast television.

Chew

Sometimes, it's even worse. I watched the Star Wars marathons on Spike a few weeks back and pressing the '30 Second Advance' on my DVR 10 times still wasn't enough to get through most of the commercial breaks.

twikoff

sure, but at least on cable.. we get 100+ channels of nothing for that $60

Tracer Bullet

No thanks. I already pay Netflix $14/month for the same thing, essentially. I refuse to encourage a system which replaces one $60/month cable bill with six $10/month streaming subscriptions because the media companies can't get their shit together.

Chew

From Joystiq:

Microsoft announcement:

chuckd21

Lefties can't use Hulu anyway.

starman9000

Good grief, it's delayed for Xbox so people can wave their arms to control it? That's worth waiting for...

glassdragon

10 bucks is way too expensive for what I get from netflix basically for a buck less. This should have been no more than 4.99

Chew

I don't understand the Xbox delay. Why not announce standard service for this July and then all those advanced Kinect features when they're ready?

Michael Corvin

I don't get the Netflix comparison. Sure Netflix has some TV stuff, but the current show selection is spotty at best.

mhg83

@ $10 month. Hulu should learn from Megavideo. They only charge $40 a year unlimited streaming and get to watch almost any show and movies.

Raul3

This may work for people that can cancel cable tv. I know a few people like that.

For most of us that pay for cable tv (or satellite), $10 seems like too expensive.

Groucho

Is there going to be a trial of this so you can see how it works before committing? Because if it's stuttering and buffering all the time I don't want to be a part of it. If it runs well like Netflix, I may want to subscribe.

Anubis2005X

I'm trying it out over 3G on my new iPhone. Hello lag!

Jonno2006

Yay, more outlets for HULU to NOT work in Canada (and other countries) /sarcasm

sracer

Depends upon what type of TV you are interested in. For me, there are quite a few 70's shows that I'm enjoying via the $9/month Netflix plan.

Hulu used to have quite a bit more older shows, but I notice that some of them are gone, and others aren't available for the Plus plan.