As expected, Hulu, the very-distant No. 2 video website behind YouTube, announced on Tuesday that it plans to launch a $10-per-month subscription service that will stream hundreds of TV episodes and movies to its customers. Hulu was launched three years ago by a group of media companies as a hedge against the Internet's growing challenge to broadcast and cable distribution. It is currently owned by Disney/ABC, NBC Universal, and Fox TV. (Recent reports suggest that CBS is on the verge of joining its rivals. Hulu said that it will continue offering a limited number of TV episodes without charge. While some analysts have warned that Hulu Plus, as it's being called, may pose a threat to cable providers, Mike Vorhaus, managing director of the media consulting firm Frank Magid Associates, told the Los Angeles Times "Hulu doesn't have all of the content that you get through cable. It doesn't come close," Vorhaus said. "Now in five, 10, 15 years from now it could become more of a threat." Hulu said that it has developed a mobile format to make its shows available to subscribers on Apple's iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch as well as Sony's broadband-capable Bravia TVs and its PlayStation game consoles.

30/06/2010