Hulu, the free, ad-supported online video service has introduced a new paid service called Hulu Plus. This new subscription-based offering costs $9.99 a month, and the content will still be ad-supported.
With a Hulu Plus subscription, you get a Season Ticket pass to a wide range of current leading shows from ABC, NBC and Fox. (Note that CBS is conspicuously missing). You also get full access to complete series content from classic shows as well. All in HD 720p format.
Hulu Plus is available on your computer, select TVs, game consoles and Blu-ray players by downloading a Hulu Plus app. Hulu Plus is also available for the iPad, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and the third-generation iPod touch, accessed using Wi-fi or the 3G network.
Now, this new offering begs a question. Will Hulu Plus be a Netflix killer?
Maybe…but it looks like Hulu Plus is focused far more heavily on television content than Neflix’s deep movie catalog. As physical content delivery continues to die however, whoever builds the online infrastructure fastest might be the long-term winner.