Hulu has launched the much anticipated "Hulu Plus" subscription service for iPhone and iPad users in the US.
The new service will allow these customers to stream television content on their iDevice by paying a monthly subscription fee of $9.99.
Announcing the launch on the official company blog, Jason Kilar, the CEO at Hulu, has noted that the service is currently available on an invitation-only basis. Kilar has confirmed that video streaming shall be available on 3G as well as Wi-Fi.
The new subscription service will provide Hulu with an alternate monetization channel besides making the service more accessible. As you may be aware, the Hulu streaming service was limited to only computers until now. However, with the new Hulu Plus subscription package, this service can now be accessed from a range of devices including the iPhone, iPad, PlayStation 3, Blu-Ray Players and Television. But at $120 a year, the subscription fee may appear to be on the expensive side. Kilar has cited a few salient features of the Hulu Plus package that may justify the cost.
Here is a lowdown on what is on offer:
Comprehensive Access To Current Season: Subscribers shall get access to all the episodes from the current season of top TV shows from Fox, NBC and ABC including Family Guy, Modern Family, Glee, 30 Rock, Saturday Night Live, The Office, The Simpsons and Grey’s Anatomy.
Access To Classic TV Shows: Subscribers may enjoy access to full series runs and back seasons of classic television series like The X-Files, Arrested Development, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Desperate Housewives, Roswell, Miami Vice, Angel, Saturday Night Live, Law and Order: SVU, Ally McBeal, Xena, Quantum Leap, My So-Called Life,etc.
HD Video Quality: Videos may be streamed at 720p HD resolution with support for multi-bitrate. It will optimize the videos according to the network connection speed and screen resolution.
Device Integration: All compatible Hulu Plus devices are integrated so that users may resume playing videos from where they left off on any of the supported devices.
By providing on-demand television content to users on the move, we think that Hulu's subscription service is quite compelling though a bit on the expensive side. But if you compare it with music streaming services like Rhapsody in the US and Spotify in Europe that charge $9.99 and £9.99 respectively for music, $9.99 for episodes from the current season of TV shows seems reasonable.
If you are an iPhone or iPad user living in the United States, you can sign up for an invite at Hulu.com/Plus/invite. You can also download Hulu's app for iPhone or iPad for free from the App Store (iTunes link) and checkout some of the free content.
Is this the future of Television? Will you be signing up for Hulu Plus? Tell us what you think in the comments.
[via Hulu Blog]
Why would I want to pay for something that is already free. I watch them on hulu only if I missed them on TV. Also, You have to sit through ads. Maybe, if there was no adds.
Yeah, I agree. If their were no ads it would be worth it but why should I have to watch ads when I'm paying them?
Fuck you hulu. What if I don't want the plus package crap. Make the free version work on ios.
ummm….no….i will continue to wait for the netflix app, thank you.
It will be interesting to know how they plan on handling the advertising. With ATT's new data plans, I would hate to waste my bandwidth on ads .. especially being that you are already paying for the service .. which might I add, is free on your computer..however limited
My thought exactly.
I'll stream Hulu at home for free and use netflix for on the go.
Hey Josh take a chill pill ! if you dont want it dont have it lol
i think hulu and att are the same company…. charging outrageous fees for stuff that should be free or included!
when Dev team is planning to release jb f0r 3gs running ios 4 (new bootrom) ????
I'd only pay $9.99 for LIVE TV. No one can be that desperate to watch an old show on the go that they need to pay a subscription. Now if you're stuck somewhere and missing the big game or what not, that's different. I bought TVU Player for a one time fee that streams live tv for free. Only way you can beat that, more American networks. Works great with CBS.
YES!!!… the more you ask the faster the Dev Team goes. Especially when you post things under articles that aren't related.
You suck at life anshul.
You're response is awesome! Thanks for the laugh.
No thanks Hulu, I have a slingbox
hulu rules for those of us outside of the USA who want to watch American TV. Yes, I have to use VPN to hide my IP but it's better than satellite TV here at $50 a month.