Hulu may be considering adding a new ad-free plan to their line up, in a bid to make the streaming platform more competitive to Netflix.
Hulu already differs from Netflix in terms content by focusing more on first-run television shows, providing new episodes of shows Like Family Guy, Modern Family, Law & Order: SVU (their library do include a fair number of movies, including movies from the Criterion collection). What is also very different is that almost all content on Hulu are ad-supported, including older content (like the complete Seinfeld library, which Hulu has exclusively signed up), often including two or three up-to 45 second ad-breaks for every half hour of content.
The ads have always been a source of frustration for users, and Netflix's recent failed experiment with embedded ads at the beginning for some programming, ads for its own original programming, shows that the general public just doesn't want ads.
Which is why, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Hulu may be considering adding a new plan, for $12 to $14 per month, that removes all the ads from their programming.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the project is dubbed "NOAH", which stands for “No Ads Hulu", and the new plan could be available in the coming months, according to the WSJ.
With Netflix's market share becoming even more dominant, Hulu has stepped up efforts to add value and differentiate itself. Hulu recently signed a deal with cable network Showtime, which allows existing Hulu subscribers to access Showtime's broadcast streams, as well as on-demand access to its programming library for an additional $8.99 per month. Hulu has also signed an exclusivity deal with AMC to stream all future programming from the network, including The Walking Dead spinoff, Fear The Walking Dead.
