Hulu today announced Hulu Plus, a long-rumored "new, revolutionary ad-supported subscription product" that, for $9.99 a month, will allow users access to a large back catalog of television shows on a variety of computers, Internet-connected home entertainment devices, and Apple products. No word yet if Hulu will be featured as an option on the wonderful Roku device or Google Android, Zune, or Windows 7 phone platforms.
Yes, users will be paying to watch ads. Hulu has not said how many commercial minutes will run with each clip, but the online video industry seems to be moving away from only having one commercial per show.
The cost and interruptions may be a small price to pay for convenience of the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad usage. The iPhone and iPad devices will stream video over Wi-Fi and 3G like the Netflix iPad app, which is coming to the iPhone probably in the fall. But if you're not on Wi-Fi, you better have one of AT&T's now-defunct unlimited 3G data plans.
Although some of the early commentary on the product isn't overwhelmingly positive, the ownership of Hulu (including NBC Universal, News Corp., and Disney) clearly know that the value proposition is in the ability to get their content when you want it, where you want it. As the prevalence of MP3 players and other such hardware suggests, the public is more interested in consuming content on their terms than making a date with the television.
Want in? It's still in beta, so you'll need to request an invite and start holding your breath.
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