The rumours proved to be true, Hulu has introduced an advertising-free plan for subscribers sick and tired of having to watch ads before, during and after Hulu programming.
Despite paying $7.99 per month, subscribers previously still had to contend with ads on most content on Hulu, even for older content, such as episodes of Seinfeld. Ad breaks are unskippable, and vary in length from 15 seconds to 90 seconds. This contrasted vastly with Netflix's ad-free policy, and made it incredibly difficult for Hulu to compete, even though both services differ in the type of content they offer (Hulu Plus concentrates on new release TV shows).
But based on user feedback, Hulu now finally offers an ad-free plan in addition to the existing ad-supported $7.99 plan. For $11.99 per month, users can enjoy the same premium content as the $7.99 plan, but without the ads.
The move allows Hulu to compete for Netflix customers, most of whom would not put up with ads. There are also other signs that Hulu is ramping up to become a premium alternative to Netflix, with the announcement of a new deal with Epix. Currently light on its movie offerings, the Epix deal brings hit movies such as The Hunger Games series, World War Z, the Transformers franchises, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Star Trek Into Darkness and other blockbusters to Hulu, beginning October 1.
Australian users can sign up to Hulu via a geo-unblocking service. You can read our guide on how to do this here.
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