Turns out that rumors earlier this month of a Hulu Plus price cut were true, sort of. The premium service from Hulu announced today that it was dropping its monthly charge $2 to $7.99 as it officially came out of preview mode. Early rumors had the service cutting its price in half to $4.99.
"I am happy to announce that today we are launching the Hulu Plus subscription service out of preview," wrote CEO Jason Kilar in a blog this morning. "With this launch, we are proud to offer our users the only subscription service with the full current season of hit TV shows like Glee, Modern Family, The Office, House, 30 Rock, Grey's Anatomy, and more, with minimal ad-load, across computers, TVs, mobile phones, and tablets."
Users who had been paying $9.99, will get a $2 credit for each month they belonged during the preview period, plus an extra $2 to match the free trial they're offering new customers. Hulu Plus said current customers also can get extra free weeks for referring friends. The premium service launched as an invitation-only preview in July.
Hulu Plus gives viewers access to all the recent episodes of programming from Fox, ABC, NBC.
The service has busily been adding new content and new devices to its lineup. Shows like Glee, The Office, 30 Rock and Grey's Anatomy have been a big draw for the Hulu Plus, which is available on all Apple devices, on Roku (as of today, see related story), Sony's PS3, and on any computer. Kilar said Hulu will be rolling out to Internet-connected Vizio, LG Electronics, and Panasonic Blu-ray players and HDTVs, TiVo Premiere DVRs, the Xbox 360 and Western Digital's WD TV Live Hub Media Center and WD TV Live Plus Network Media Player. He also said Hulu Plus will launch on other mobile phones, tablets, set-top boxes, and Internet-connected devices in the months to come, but didn't mention Google TV or the just-released Boxee Box from D-Link, two high-profile devices that are, at the moment blocked from accessing Hulu Plus content.
Hulu is jointly owned by News Corp., Disney and NBC Universal.
For more:
- check out Hulu's blog
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