14 DAY TRIAL // The rumors last week turned out to be solid, Hulu has launched a new subscription service, dubbed Hulu Plus. It’s still in beta and will only be made available to a small number of people, but it’s an interesting proposition. For $9.99 per month you can watch entire current seasons of tens of TV shows from Fox, ABC, and NBC and you can do it on other devices than the PC, i.e., the iPad, Blu-ray players and even the PlayStation 3.
“Hulu Plus is a new, revolutionary ad-supported subscription product that is incremental and complementary to the existing Hulu service. For almost all of the current broadcast shows on our service, Hulu Plus offers the full season. Every single episode of the current season will be available, not just a handful of trailing episodes,” Jason Kilar, Hulu CEO, announced.
Hulu Plus will only be available, for now, to those than can score an invite. The closed beta will get wider in time and you can sign up for an invite here. Plus brings quite a few things to the table. For one, all of the episodes in a current season of a show Hulu is offering will be available, making it easier to catch up. Most of this content will be in HD, at 720p, though that will vary depending on available bandwidth. There are also several shows that will be offered in full, from the X Files to Desperate Housewives.
But another big selling point for Hulu Plus is the availability. There are already iPad and iPhone apps and you’ll be able to access it through web-connected TVs or Blu-ray players. It is also available on the PlayStation 3 and will be on the Xbox 360 as well at the start of next year. Considering how much Hulu has fought to keep device manufacturers from bringing the service to anything else than a PC or laptop, it’s a welcomed option. Hulu Plus won’t be launching for everyone for at least a few months.