Hulu has introduced a new paid subscription service, called Hulu Plus, for watching TV shows and movies on mobile devices, game consoles, television sets and computers. With this Hulu has joined other media companies trying to strike a balance between paid and ad supported models.
Until now, Hulu was a free service over the web supported by advertisements, but offered only selected TV shows and movies. That service will continue to exist after the launch of Hulu Plus.
Hulu's subscription service, or Hulu Plus, gives users access to more than 45 full programs of everything, i.e. of listed TV shows for $9.99 a month.
With Hulu Plus, the company hopes to make consumers pay a monthly fee for that programming which they are used to watching for free from the broadcast networks. The reward being the convenience of watching shows whenever they want.
But Hulu’s hopes are not that superficial after all. It has the backing of some of the most powerful media brands; with Fox owner News Corp, General Electric Co's NBC Universal, ABC owner Walt Disney Co holding equity stakes in the company.
Hulu Plus will be available on Apple Inc's iPhone, iPad and iTouch, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's television sets and Blu-ray players. Soon, Hulu Plus will be available on Sony Corp's PlayStation 3. Next year, the service will be available on Microsoft Corp's Xbox 360.
A preview of Paid TV subscription service:
1) Netflix Inc already runs a subscription service.
2) Comcast Corp and Time Warner Inc are developing "TV Everywhere," which will allow people to watch shows on demand for free and on any device provided they are already paying customers.
3) Time Warner's HBO service Go lets subscribers download episodes of "True Blood" or "Big Love" as a free ad-on.
Major broadcast network CBS Corp is currently out from the Hulu scheme of things.
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