Hulu, the online TV and film portal, has finally rolled out a subscription service, according to a note posted to the site on Tuesday.
For $9.99 a month, subscribers of Hulu Plus get access to a full season's worth of their favorite TV shows--and even past seasons in some cases--and "not just a handful of trailing episodes" that the free-version of Hulu offers, according to CEO Jason Kilar, who wrote the note.
Hulu Plus marks the first time the service has charged for content and it's arrival has been long anticipated. Supported by Disney, NBC Universal, and News Corp., some of Hulu's backers, especially News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, have been pushing for a paid service for over a year. The word out of Hollywood for a long time is that advertising just doesn't provide the kind of return that the studios and networks are accustomed to generating. Apparently, when it comes to premium TV shows, the ad-supported model works for television but not for the Web.
A monthly service fee may not sit well with some Hulu fans. While the free Hulu service is still available, Internet TV fans have grown accustomed to getting content for free. Critics have noted that Hulu was the first service to actually seize market share away from illegal file-sharing sites. They say that throwing up a pay wall may do nothing more than send people back to pirate sites.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20009174-261.html
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