Plus-devices-ipad-224x187Hulu today announced Hulu Plus, a paid tier of their ad-supported service that puts them in direct competition with Netflix's Watch Instantly service. While the bulk of Netflix's business is still DVDs by mail, they are planning on gradually moving to streaming-only, at which point Netflix and Hulu (Plus) will essentially be the same concept. For example, to date Hulu has been restricted to computers; similar to Netflix's present streaming service, however, Hulu Plus will be available on iPhones, iPads, PS3s, Samsung TVs, and Blu-ray players, and more (Xbox 360 support, for example, is "coming early 2011"). Hulu Plus will run $9.99/month and grants subscribers access to more seasons of more shows; it also enables more HD (720p) content. 

Hulu is currently offering invites to sign up for a preview of Hulu Plus. It's going to be interesting to see how this shakes out, as more and more people move away from paid Cable TV subscriptions and begin paying smaller amounts for internet subscription services like Hulu and Netflix in their stead. Looking at the catalog of each service, it's pretty clear that Netflix has more feature films and older content, while Hulu has more up-to-date TV programming.


What do you think, would you consider replacing your $40 Cable TV subscription by paying $10 for Hulu Plus, $10 for Netflix, and pocketing the savings?

[via Mashable]