News: Hulu-ing for Dollars

So, the L.A. Times is reporting that the rumors of Hulu charging for premium service will be coming to fruition this May. I know that a lot of people will bitch and moan about having to pay $10 for what used to be free, but I think those people are getting their panties in a wad prematurely.

The article doesn't state too much about Hulu's plan, but it did state that the last five episodes of shows will still be free, and I'd venture a bet those are the episodes most people watch. Sure, it's cool to have a backlog of some older shows, but I'm not logging on to Hulu to watch old episodes of Kings. I'm there to catch up on the shows I missed during the week.

Also, we don't really know what Hulu Plus will look like. More than likely the subscription fee means you can watch all shows ad-free. I'm sure the free episodes will still have ads (longer ones from what it looks like), and I'm cool with that because I'm not against commercials to begin with. I never understood why people go to such lengths to avoid a few minutes of ads.

While I'm not against the idea of paying for a premium version of Hulu (especially if the episodes I watch will still be free), I don't know if I'll be dishing out the Hamiltons right away. The only way I'd be willing to add Hulu Plus is if they eventually go the same route Netflix has taken. Netflix Instant is by far one of the greatest leaps in the history of home entertainment, and if Hulu comes out with an HD device (or have their service integrated into Blu-Ray players or gaming systems), then I'll gladly pay a subscription fee on par with what I pay for Netflix.

I'm surprised that so many people are surprised at the news. We all knew this day was coming, yet there are people out there already screaming boycott. Let them waste time with their bit-torrents while I watch the last five episodes of Castle in peace. So what if I have to endure a few more commercials...I just surf the web while they're playing anyway.