Hulu Finally Announces "Hulu Plus" Subscription Service
Hulu Finally Announces "Hulu Plus" Subscription Service
Posted 06/29/2010 at 2:24pm
| by Ryan Whitwam
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After months of speculation, Hulu has finally revealed their premium paid service, called Hulu Plus. Users will pay $9.99 per month for the privilege to access additional content not available on the free version. Subscribers to the new service will also be able to enjoy content on a number of new devices like iPads, iPhones, and Blu-Ray players. Support for the PS3 is expected sometime in July, and the Xbox will get a Live Gold tie in early in 2011.
It's unclear if users will respond positively to this new pay model. Hulu was created to discourage illegal distribution of content. Adding a pay wall could just drive users back to old habits. That being said, the regular Hulu isn't going away. The big difference will be the full seasons of programs on the Plus service. The free Hulu only offers a few episodes of popular shows. Items from the back catalog will also be made available on Hulu Plus. Depending on the platform, some content will be available in 720p.
We're a little concerned that it is being escribed as an "ad-supported subscription product". It looks like the fee won't get rid of the ads. For the time being, the service is invitation only. You can sign up here to request access. Is this something you'd pay for? If not, what is still missing for you?
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davzway
November 19, 2010 at 1:01pm
Don't see that anything is there for the money paid. Example: Eureka.. on the Hulu Plus list, but the episodes are the same as the non paying Hulu. Why pay money to Hulu? What do you get that you don't already have.. don't see it? No way to contact Hulu, so until Hule justifies the $, I remain Netflix fan and Hulu a sometimes deal.
skhills
July 13, 2010 at 2:56pm
Hulu is still missing the ability to view episodes as soon as they air. Some shows show up the next day, others don't show up for a week. Figure this out and I might sign up since I use internet/OTA/Netflix/free Hulu as a nearly-free replacement for cable.
Hulu does have marketable value in offering all episodes of current season network shows, but I think the $9.99 is a stretch when compared to Netflix's $8.99 no-ad, huge library, plus DVD service. In my mind they'll need to settle into the $4.99-$7.99 range once they see limited long-term interest in their paid service.
Xaero429
June 29, 2010 at 7:31pm
I think hulu was an awesome idea, and i have used it many times instead of downloading a particular episode. I also think a $10 a month subscription is a great idea if you would like to watch back episodes or movies, but i really wish it would get rid of the ads. after all, a Netflix subscription is $8.99 a month, and you get alot of the shows offered on Hulu on watch instantly. If it were up to me, i would provide a service that was completely digital, and you could pay a fee per movie or show, or something like $20 bucks a month for 5 gigs worth of downloads. Something like that anyhow.
JohnP
June 30, 2010 at 4:38am
If other methods are illegal but free and come without ads, where does that put Hulu?
mesiah
June 30, 2010 at 10:27pm
Hehe, aparently the government stepped up and answered this question for us today by starting to shut down illegal content providers. I think hulu is a godsend and the industry should step up and take notice. I'm sure a ton of money was made through advertisements where people would have otherwise resorted to piracy.
nHeroGo
June 29, 2010 at 6:40pm
I think they just want some money from the Apple crowd; they seem to have cash to spend without thinking.
Jobs says his sheep must not use Flash. Hulu use the Flash-player to control commercials/advertisement - HTML5 does not do that. So Hulu creates a "plus service" for devices prefixed with "i" to make some cash off of iSheep.
Xaero429
June 29, 2010 at 7:33pm
Those idiots will fork it out too, even though att's network couldn't stay connected long enough for them to watch 5 minutes of video lol.
nmanguy
June 29, 2010 at 4:42pm
What the hell are they thinking? I pay $10 a month for Netflix and get over 20,000 movies and films available intantaneously and commercial free, as well as a physical disc delivered several (usually 3 or 4) times a month. Is there a reason for Hulu to charge $10/month and include ads for a purely digital service?
nmanguy
July 01, 2010 at 11:57am
I feel like a moron now. I can't believe I said "Movies and films" instead of movies and shows.
someuid
June 29, 2010 at 3:37pm
My first experience with Hulu was crap. I saw the great commercials with Family Guy what's-his-name and I checked out the site. It was like stepping back in time 20 years. Their search engine was horrible. A search for TV or movie that wasn't in their catalog resulted in 40 billion results for other stuff that wasn't close. When I did find a movie in their catalog, the search results were littered with dozens of clips that I couldn't filter out. It was horrible. I watched one, maybe two things, then deleted the bookmark and forgot about Hulu. EPIC FAIL on the search you weenies.
I've been seeing the articles and the hoopla on Hulu and none of it has ever given me the urge to go back and try it again. Maybe they fixed the search, maybe they didnt, but with such an EPIC FAIL in today's age of search engines, why bother.
Now this. Oh my god these TV exec must all be little whiney girls or something. This latest offering is such a luke warm approach at TV over the internet. Come on - a cherry picked list of current TV shows? An entire season of epidoses instead of just the last 5? Some content in 720p? Ads? CLOWNS I tell ya, CLOWNS.
So here is was would make me sign up for Hulu:
- Everything in 720p or greater, no excuses. When homes get fiber, it should all go to 1080p.
- No ads. I don't care how much revenue you get from ads. Ads rot my brain and are the primary reason I watch so little TV. I'm tired of ads. They are loud. They are stupid. They are there for the purpose of pushing products I don't care about and don't need. They ruin movie plot lines. They consider me stupid and gullible and try to pull the wool over my eyes. "If you would only buy this product, your life will be perfect!"
- The entire catalog on line. Every movie, TV show, documentary, sport event, breaking news broadcast. Everything. Open the warehouse and get it all on-line, right now. Anything less is just a weak effort by the TV and Movie houses to appease me with bread crumbs and left overs.
- A single montly payment that I can cancel at any time. A pink slip handed to the first employee who suggests a yearly contract for new customers.
- Support for every freaking device known to man. If it's device with a screen, it better have support. iPod, iPad, iPhone, Android, Windows, Linux, OSX, Roku, XBOX, Wii, PS3 - e_v_e_r_y_t_h_i_n_g
- Live sport events
- A price of under $100 and I'll call up my TV/Satellite provider and tell them to come get their equipment.
It is really time for these TV and Movie houses to stop screwing around with this Intarnet-thing. This isn't rocket science. As it sits now, Netflix and video games are my modes of entertainment. Hulu is just messing around, wasting time, and giving me all the more reason to stay in video game land permanently.
albe23
June 29, 2010 at 5:31pm
Agreed
"Force has no place where there is need of skill." - Herodotus (484 BC -
430 BC)
publicimage
June 29, 2010 at 3:16pm
For free I don't expect much, so I can overlook how terrible streaming video looks on a 50" plasma. If I'm paying, I can get a lot pickier.
i7_DOMINATION
June 29, 2010 at 3:06pm
$9.99/mo + ADs??
I have a better idea: the pirate bay + avi -->mp4 converter + OpenSSH = FREE and NO ADS
Mark17
June 29, 2010 at 2:59pm
I guess they now need to charge $9.99. It seemed to be working just fine for over 2 years. So are they going to be taking content that normally would have been on "regular Hulu" and make you pay for it? I didn't mind the ad supported content, but what heck does "ad-supported subscription product" mean? So I now pay and have to watch the ads? If I'm paying then why should I have to do that? I guess we'll see what happens when they roll out this new subscription service. But hey, there are always other ways to get the tv shows I want.
mesiah
June 29, 2010 at 3:50pm
Please read. The article never said anything about taking away current free tivo services. What you see now is for the most part what you will get then. Most shows on TiVo only offer the last 5 episodes of the current season. What they are offering as a paid service is the entire season of shows as well as past seasons for most shows, and most likely an expanded selection of full length movies. There are currently a hand full of shows that permit tivo to show previous seasons, those will probably end up going to paid. Everything else should stay.
As for paying for commercials, anyone who has basic cable already pays for commercials. I don't see what the point is in getting so bent out of shape when we have been doing it since the dawn of cable television.
My only problem with the service is the $9.99 price tag. That is too much to ask when you have netflix in town. For a dollar less I can get all the old TV shows I want, plus many many movies streamed instantly, as well as hard copies of DVDs. And netflix is already available on multiple platforms.
If hulu wants their service to succeed they need to be cheaper than netflix. I would pay $4.99 a month with commercials for the service. More than that and they are pricing themselves right out of the market.
Mark17
June 29, 2010 at 5:03pm
I know it didn't say anything about taking away their free service, but I was just wondering if they are going to change their free service in any way. I know they currently only offer the last five episodes or the last three, or sometimes they are available only a certain time after they air, or whatever. It depends on the show. Anyway, I just hope that the new paid version doesn't change anything about the free version like fewer shows available at a time or more ads. That would be annoying.
As for commercials, I can't stand them. It's the main reason I don't pay for cable or sattelite. I just don't think that if I'm paying I should have to put up with the annoying ads. That, and the fact that there are only about 10 channels out of the hundreds available that I would actually watch. If the service is free, then I wouldn't mind commercials.
And I also have a problem with $9.99 fee. It just doesn't make sense if what they were doing before was working. Their website is still up, isn't it? Personally, I wouldn't pay a dime for a service with commercials. If they lowered the cost and got rid of the commercials, then I may consider paying for it. But, they would have to be cheaper than Netflix
mesiah
June 30, 2010 at 10:24pm
Ya, I'm sure alot of content providers are cursing netflix. I know blockbuster is. Netflix has become the wal-mart of video rental :D So big and cheap its hard not to use it :D
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