The first reviews of Hulu Plus are in, and they’re generally very positive about the service and the longterm potential of it. But persuading reviewers granted early access to like it is one thing, persuading paying customers to do the same is quite another.
Hulu Plus
After months (over a year in fact) of speculation, Hulu finally unveiled its plans for a subscription-based service. And there were very few surprises in the final announcement as we knew it all already.
Hulu Plus will cost $10-per-month, and buy access to: full seasons of current shows; back catalogs of classic shows; access to the service via televisions, games consoles, and mobile devices including the iPhone and iPad.
Reviews Galore
Hulu Plus is currently in beta, with only invited guests able to check out the service. This, of course, includes some websites, many of which have posted their first reviews of Hulu Plus.
Streaming Media appreciated the 720p video over the 480p video available on Hulu.com. They did, however, have a couple of issues with the encoding settings and adverts playing twice. They sum up with “exactly what one would expect it should for ten dollars a month.”
CNET is very pleased with the service, exclaiming, “Hulu Plus freakin’ rocks,” explaining that the “video and audio quality are superb when connected via 3G and Wi-Fi networks.” However, the reviewer is undecided whether they’d pay $10-a-month for Hulu Plus, especially as he’s already a Netflix subscriber.
Engadget also likes the improved video quality over Hulu.com. However, they found the service to be sketchy, and they don’t like the fact that you still have to sit through ads on top of paying the monthly subscription fee.
Will Consumers Bite?
The question still remains as to whether consumers will buy into Hulu Plus when the time comes to actually hand over credit card details and commit. The presence of advertising is clearly going to put some potential subscribers off, while the range of content may be lacking for others.
Until Hulu Plus is fully available to all rather than just the select few, we won’t know whether Hulu is offering enough to justify the $10-per-month fee.
