Hulu Plus is coming out of beta and is ready to take on Netflix.
The streaming service, which offers a library of current and classic television series as well as movies, is looking to compete with Netflix for streaming video dominance. Initially the service was announced with a $10 a month price tag, but as it debuts the price is lower–$7.99 a month.
“Though the service has only been in preview for part of this year, Hulu Plus is already accounting for a material percentage of Hulu’s overall business. But we’re even more excited about where we plan to take the service in the months and years to come,” wrote Hulu CEO Jason Kila in a blog post.
Kilar also said anyone who was just billed at the $9.99 rate should be receiving a credit to their account soon. Additionally, users who haven’t signed up yet can now get a free week to try out the premium service.
If you already signed up, you’ll be credited a week of the service on your account.
The free section of Hulu will not be impacted by the new Hulu Plus.
I subscribed to Hulu Plus on Tuesday and have been trying it out this week. I'm very disappointed with what they've got to offer. There are perhaps one or two TV shows that I'm interested in that aren't already available on Netflix. I'll probably be cancelling at the end of the month dispite the price drop.
My biggest gripe with Hulu Plus so far, is that while it is available on my Roku box, regular hulu is not. What is so special about plus that is worht the extra cost, no commercials, faster appearance time, what?
I'm waiting for the XBox 360 app to give it a try. Still not sure if the advantages are worth $7.99 a month. But it's certainly worth a look for me... once I CAN take a look.
What makes it special is more content. Instead of making the last five episodes available, you can watch whole seasons, even past seasons of shows. It still has commercials (just not as many, I understand). The other big advantage is just what you noted. Hulu is a web browser only service (baring PlayOn or other hack) while Hulu Plus is available on a whole (growing) list of devices making it easy to watch Hulu Plus on your TV (or iPod/Pad) vs your monitor.
I'm thinking of it as a replacement to cable. It turns out I still want to have the option to watch current shows on the local channels, so if they offer Castle, Chuck, Big Bang, and a few others, I'm there.
The rest of the stuff I can wait until it's on DVD.
Still, we'll see what they have.