Hulu Plus drops beta tag, looks to expand subscriber base

Hulu Plus has shed its "by-invitation-only status" and is now available for $9.99 a month to anyone who's willing to shell out the money, but that doesn't mean it's available on all the devices you might like it to be, especially if you're looking to take it to the big screen in the living room.

Hulu, which once was rumored to be looking at a reduced price for its premium service, as low as $4.99 a month, has been adding programming over the past few weeks, including new fall shows like Raising Hope, No Ordinary Family, and The Event, and back seasons of hit shows including Monk, Psych, and Battlestar Galactica. And, it says it's now available to owners of Sony BRAVIA 2010 TVs, with the service expanding to other BRAVIA devices in the near future.

Hulu says that this week, PS3 owners with a PlayStation Network account will be able to download and subscribe to Hulu Plus. That roll out will coincide with an updated PS3 application.

Roku owners, Google TV owners, TiVo and Xbox 360 owners (and most other device owners, like most connected TVs) will have to wait for deals to be made down the road, although Roku suggests there's a Hulu Plus channel coming for its device just around the corner, although how far away that corner is is still in doubt.

At the recent Streaming Media West show in L.A., Boxee CEO Avner Ronen said the new Boxee Box, which ships Nov. 10, won't come with a Hulu app, but, he said, it could have one soon.

Hulu's owners, NBC Universal, News Corp. and Disney, have been reluctant to allow Hulu Plus to move onto television sets, afraid that the move would threaten their business. News Corp. also recently held its content hostage from Cablevision viewers looking to watch Fox shows blacked out during the Fox-Cablevision retransmission fee spat.

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