Hulu Cuts Price for Hulu Plus; Monthly Subscription Now $7.99

Premium online video service comes out of “preview” phase

Hulu is cutting the price of its premium subscription service Hulu Plus by $2 to $7.99 per month, Jason Kilar, the company’s chief executive, announced on Wednesday.

The price cut comes in conjunction with Hulu Plus’ launch out of “preview” mode, and its full-release into the largely unchartered world of paid Web video.

Kilar said that, concurrent with the launch, Hulu will now offer the full current seasons of shows such as “Glee,” “Modern Family,” “House,” “The Office,” “30 Rock” and “Grey’s Anatomy.”

Hulu launched in July with a $9.99-a-month “preview price.” All current subscribers will be credited the difference on their next bill. “Though the service has only been in preview for part of this year, Hulu Plus is already accounting for a material percentage of Hulu’s overall business,” Kular wrote. Hulu had toyed with a deeper price cut, but ultimately settled on the 20 percent discount — for now.

The move comes as Hulu looks ahead to a battle with Netflix, which is pointedly shifting its business away from physical DVDs to streaming movies and television shows online.

More notes from Kilar:

Today, Hulu Plus launches on Roku. All PlayStation 3 owners with a PlayStation Network account, which is free, can download the Hulu Plus application. In the months to come, Hulu Plus will be coming 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, with many more mobile phones, tablets, set-top boxes, and Internet-connected devices to be announced.

We haven’t forgotten about our existing device lineup and applications, either. Over the next week, updates to the Samsung, PlayStation 3, and Apple iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch Hulu Plus apps will be available, bringing a variety of bug fixes and feature and performance enhancements.

And for fans of “Saturday Night Live,” Hulu said that every episode from all 36 seasons will be available by year’s end.

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