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Hulu’s long-rumored paid service is now a reality as the online content hub has just launched Hulu Plus. A monthly fee of $9.99 allows subscribers to get season passes to more than 40 current series, including Glee, Modern Family, House, Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock and The Office, as well as access to over 120 previous episodes of current and old shows. The episodes can be delivered to iPhone, iPad and iPod, some Samsung TVs and Blu-ray players and soon to PlayStation3 and Xbox. A free version of Hulu is still available but offers only recent episodes of ABC, NBC and Fox shows. In its initial launch phase, Hulu Plus is available by invitation only. You can get one here.
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$10 a month PLUS I still get to watch ads?
PASS
@ Chris -
How is that any different than paying for cable television? Unless you’re time shifting, you pay for that and still have to sit through ads, don’t you?
I time shift all the time. i got this awesome contraption, it actually digitally records whatever i want to watch and then if i just start watching a little later than the scheduled time (10 minutes for a 1/2 hour, 20 minutes for a 1-hour), i can watch it the night it’s on and not deal with the commercials. if you want i’ll sell you one real cheap. i love hulu, but i’m not paying for it.
One 30-second commercial per break takes about as much time as fast forwarding on a DVR — plus you don’t overshoot and accidentally spoil anything.
This is a great move and it will change TV forever. $10/month will replace cable and allow people to start buying settop boxes with the cable bill savings from just a couple months. Cable companies should be shaking. Content is king.
OVERSHOOTING? are you kidding, me? what is this amateur hour? how long have you had your Tivo, 30 seconds? it’s not that difficult to master unless you’re my wife — i love her but she’s one of those women who are just terrible with electronics.
point being, i have the option to watch on my TV the night of the premiere broadcast if i care to. am i about to give up all of directv for what hulu offers? no. am i about to add to my monthly costs so i can watch tv on my phone or computer? don’t think so. sorry, Hulu, you’re jumping the monetizing gun and the college kids are just going to steal your programming anyway.
“How is that any different than paying for cable television?”
Because I’m already paying for cable internet.
I pay for cable television, and in return I watch shows with ads. I pay for cable internet and in return I watch shows with ads…and pay Hulu more money. So, big difference, mostly due to math.
And still no residuals for actors from Hulu, right?
Why would anyone do this when they could get Netflix instead? There are so many more titles.
Netflix gets the season DVD box sets some time after the season ends for a show. Hulu’s offering is a bit more immediate.
Aside from the iphone capabilities, how about Tivo? Do people not get that anymore? Or Netflix? Which has a much larger selection. In comparison to both of these, Hulu is sub par.
It sucks that you can’t get the old shows for free. That’s all I used it for. The new shows I can tape myself. The fee is too pricey for what I use it for, so I’ll use Netflix.
Does that mean they’re going to pay the writers??!?!?
Does anyone have any info/guesses what will happen to Hulu if/when the Comcast/NBCUni merger happens?
I can’t tell if that will be a very good thing or a very bad thing for them.
So when SAG was arguing for internet residuals and didn’t get them because, “the web’s not profitable”, that was real, eh?
The arguments are obviously going to be that, “this technology is new and may not prove to be profitable”, but c’mon.
Founded by NBC Universal and FOX?
More profit for the big boys, more loss to actors.
Yes it’s heinous. A new compnay doesn’t get to avoid paying employees until they’re in the black and new medium ventures should be treated in the same way.
According to News report estimates:
NBC Uni – 32%
News Corp – $32%
Disney – 28%
With the remaining 8% to a private equity firm. (Providence Equity Partners)
Hmmm…
There’s a big error in this post– it’s not “over 120 previous episodes of current and old shows,” it’s over 120 SEASONS and 2,000 episodes. Big difference in the numbers.
Having said that, I’m still not convinced this is a deal, probably because I don’t actually watch much on NBC or ABC. I just don’t think I’d get that much out of it that I can’t get by just recording it on my DVR myself.
Sounds good for the moneyed classes. I’ll stick to netflicks until the money starts rolling in from this book!
Why would anyone get this when both time warner and direct tv offer “on demand” (as part of the service you are already paying for), where you can call up tons of shows to watch anytime you want?
stooooopid
I keep wondering how the studios will spin this when the guilds demand their piece. How can they possibly keep stonewalling this issue?
I’m not evil enough to figure out what they’ll do.
When Hulu works, it is great. But the problem is, it doesn’t always work. Do you know how frustrating it is to be in the middle of an episode of say, 24, and right when it is at its most intense, the picture freezes? Ugh. The internet is a poor man’s TV, plain and simple, and I use it because I am poor. People with money are going to pay for cable and tivo.
I agree that this service doesn’t make sense if you’re still paying for cable, but if you’re looking to ditch your cable company, this could be a good way to go.
I cancelled my cable plan awhile ago, and switched to a $15 Netflix account plus free Hulu. If the premium Hulu service is attractive enough, I’d consider shelling out another ten bucks, which would still be way cheaper than cable and have way fewer commercials.
Hulu used to have full seasons and then took it away and changed the system to be “5 episodes at a time only” as it is now. They’re reintroducing something they used to have and charging for it instead of actually innovating and giving the customer their money’s worth.
Screw that. Pass.
Thank goodness our SAG leaders sold us up the river and Union memebers won’t get any meaningful residuals for this kind of internet content while Hulu, aka NBC & Fox, get richer. You can’t blame the Union leadership though. There was no way to see this coming…unless of course you were paying attention.