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Sean Portnoy
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Hulu Plus coming to Samsung, Sony, Vizio HDTVs and Blu-ray players.

By | June 29, 2010, 5:18pm PDT

Summary: Are you ready to pay to watch Web TV on your real TV? As part of the announcement of its Plus service, Hulu revealed that it has inked deals with Samsung, Sony, and Vizio to include Hulu Plus as part of the streaming lineup for their “connected” HDTVs and Blu-ray players.

Are you ready to pay to watch Web TV on your real TV? As part of the announcement of its Plus service — $9.95 per month for access to past episodes and other content — Hulu revealed that it has inked deals with Samsung, Sony, and Vizio to include Hulu Plus as part of the streaming lineup for their “connected” HDTVs and Blu-ray players. According to Engadget, Plus will also be coming to the PlayStation 3 next month and Xbox 360 in early 2011.

Those with Samsung networked HDTVs and Blu-ray devices can start watching Hulu Plus now by downloading the app, though it’ll only be sample content. (You’ll need to request an invite to start testing the full service.) Sony and Vizio will start offering Hulu Plus on their devices in the fall.

Being able to subscribe to Hulu Plus to watch it on your HDTV could be a difficult sell. To make things a little easier, Hulu does plan to stream the shows in 720p HD, so you’re at least making most of those pixels on your set do some work. But does it offer enough to get people to drop their pay TV service or add $10 more per month to their total TV budget? And since Hulu describes Plus as an “ad-supported service,” you may still have to watch ads. Then again, you won’t have to remember to DVR every episode of your favorite show, or wait for the season DVD if you miss watching a hot new show from the start. (On the other hand, Hulu doesn’t have every show from every network.)

Are you willing to give Hulu Plus a chance in your living room? Why or why not? Let us know in our Comments section.

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Topics

Sony Corp., Blu-ray Disc, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., HDTV, Hulu, Blu-Ray, TVs, Tv & Home Theater, DVD, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Home Entertainment, Sean Portnoy

Sean Portnoy is a freelance technology journalist.

Disclosure

Sean Portnoy

Sean Portnoy is a freelance technology journalist; currently, all work that Sean does is on a contractural basis. Sean has also written corporate communications documents for CA.

Sean does not accept gifts from companies he covers. All hardware products he writes about are purchased with his own funds or are review units covered under formal loan agreements and are returned after the review is complete.

Biography

Sean Portnoy

Sean Portnoy started his tech writing career at ZDNet nearly a decade ago. He then spent several years as an editor at Computer Shopper magazine, most recently serving as online executive editor. He received a B.A. from Brown University and an M.A. from the University of Southern California.

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RE: Hulu Plus coming to Samsung, Sony, Vizio HDTVs and Blu-ray players.
alterseekers 18th Jan 2011
That's really great to hear. Now it gives us more ways to enjoy our internet-ready gadgets at home connected wirelessly via a wireless router. And speaking of wireless routers, if you're looking for a good one, I recommend you check out the Netgear Wireless Router for Video and Gaming. You can use this device to connect computers, gaming consoles, notebooks, or wireless printers, and also your networked home theater devices. You can also use this to stream video and music from a USB drive to media players and DLNA TV's, even without using a computer. Now that's one powerful wireless router for you. For more information about Netgear's Wireless Router for Video and Gaming, check out this site: http://bit.ly/bByST7. Enjoy!
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RE: Hulu Plus coming to Samsung, Sony, Vizio HDTVs and Blu-ray players.
TechDude151 29th Jun 2010
Consumers should resist Hulu's business model. Paying a subscription fee and watching ads is the cable tv business model! We should demand either:

1) No subscription fee, ad supported
2) Subscription fee, no ads.

If Hulu can convince people to subscribe and watch ads, they will make even more profit. Of course the CEO is going to say a subscription service without ads is not an option, or a completely free ad supported service can exist. If he can convince people that a subscription service plus ads is the only way to go, then more money in his pocket.
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it's $10!!! how much is cable a month? c'mon stop being so damn cheap!
doctorSpoc 30th Jun 2010
@TechDude151 - Hulu is $9.95.. cable is probably minimum $40-50 and up.. again.. it's $10.. $120 a year.. i used to pay that a month for cable 'til i dropped cable altogether.. you aren't that cheap are you?
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RE: Hulu Plus coming to Samsung, Sony, Vizio HDTVs and Blu-ray players.
McLovin83 30th Jun 2010
@doctorSpoc So you'll pay for something that you can only use some of the time (because they don?t have all your shows) when you can be picking up some of the same thing for free with an antennae? Don?t get me wrong Hulu is nice but $10 is a lot for casual use. And even if it?s not casual, you can view your shows at the network websites for free with ad support. Use the money to pick up Netflix and watch shows AND movies.
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RE: Hulu Plus coming to Samsung, Sony, Vizio HDTVs and Blu-ray players.
lindapg27 9th Jul 2010
@doctorSpoc Well, I have to give up cable because I can't pay. $10.00 is a lot if you don't have it. I have enjoyed Hulu emmensly since the last time I had to give up cable. They are now adding more commercials still better than tv, but I cannot afford even the marvelous deal of 9.95./mo. Greed is the way of the world. can't stop it. i can always read a book. us po people cain't do nottin' else. (sorry i couldn't resist no offense)
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RE: Hulu Plus coming to Samsung, Sony, Vizio HDTVs and Blu-ray players.
gennick 30th Jun 2010
@TechDude151 Right On Techdude agree 100%
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RE: Hulu Plus coming to Samsung, Sony, Vizio HDTVs and Blu-ray players.
bb_apptix 1st Jul 2010
@TechDude151

"Paying a subscription fee and watching ads is the cable tv business model! "

It's also the movie theater model. Pay $9 to see a movie, and then have to watch TV commercials on the big screen before the feature presentation.

Am I ready to pay to watch Web TV on my real TV? You must be joking.
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RE: Hulu Plus coming to Samsung, Sony, Vizio HDTVs and Blu-ray players.
lindapg27 9th Jul 2010
@TechDude151 Well if I have to make a choice (and I do) I'll keep my netflix. Will not pay for Hulu. We pay for so much already. Are they charging to watch on the pc also or just tv? Thanks
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RE: Hulu Plus coming to Samsung, Sony, Vizio HDTVs and Blu-ray players.
jbailey781 29th Jun 2010
As soon as they cut back on the free service I'll be done with HULU. They are already making money, now this? **** it! All I know is I can Tivo a season for free. I'd rather pay for cable with a dvr than pay hulu. It seems greedy to me. The old biz model sucks and the money grubbing of the networks sucks. Something free will come along or i'll just say **** watching shows online.
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how much is your TiVo Cable subscriptions a month? nt.
doctorSpoc 30th Jun 2010
@jbailey781...
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RE: Hulu Plus coming to Samsung, Sony, Vizio HDTVs and Blu-ray players.
maquino@... 30th Jun 2010
I think they're trying to do what Netflix has successfully have done. Although, there is a big difference between Netflix and Hulu Plus - $5.00. At Netflix, for the $4.99 plan one can borrow 1 DVD at a time per month plus stream unlimited instant play movies. We happen to have a Wii, PS3, Xbox 360 and a Panasonic blu-ray player, ALL streams Netflix movies that are already in place. Why would we need Hulu since we already have a DVR? Watching old episodes with ads for $9.99/month? Come on! They have to think of something else to offer.

Hulu needs to lower the fee to $4.99 and have an option to buy downloadable episodes for us to keep. They need to look into getting foreign movies and TV shows. One thing that Netflix has not done is support cc (close captioning) maybe they can look into that. There's a lot of things they can do, but I'm not going to tell them. They're going to have to pay me first.
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RE: Hulu Plus coming to Samsung, Sony, Vizio HDTVs and Blu-ray players.
jeft2k@... 30th Jun 2010
It's interesting to me how much technology is applied to deliver current content. I look at a $1.5k tv and ask, "What do you watch?" I hear (and I like hulu) $10+ads and ask, "What content are you interested in?" My content is much more occasional since I detoxed after dumping cable. I am sooooo not interested in ads btw. They yell at me and make my head hurt to sell me sex and social viability. It's the web for me I think, Netflix is closest to my needs.
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RE: Hulu Plus coming to Samsung, Sony, Vizio HDTVs and Blu-ray players.
lindapg27 9th Jul 2010
@jeft2k@... Right on!
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Nope if it has ads it is free if it doesn't have ads then it should be a...
dougogd@... 30th Jun 2010
paid subscription. So If they want people to pay for it they will have to get rid of the ads. I will never ever pay for anything television that has ads again. I will not pay for satellite if it has ads i will not pay for cable if it has ads. I am done being ripped off by businesses.
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RE: Hulu Plus coming to Samsung, Sony, Vizio HDTVs and Blu-ray players.
Eddy-ICUR12 30th Jun 2010
I keep waiting for someone, anyone, to offer an ala cart Internet based cable type TV service so I can ditch Comcast who charges up $70 a month for expanded basic.

So far every option wants to play politics and only offer liberal based news broadcast. As soon as a company offers this type of service I'll be pitching my Comcast equipment thru the front window of their store.
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RE: Hulu Plus coming to Samsung, Sony, Vizio HDTVs and Blu-ray players.
mdorge 30th Jun 2010
One thing no one seems to mention is the cost of intenet service. ISP providers in my area almost all have usage caps on downloads and I can't help to wonder what such a service will mean to my total ISP bill. The service may be cost effective, but if I constantly go over my download cap and have to pay $2/GB for extra usage, is it really much cheaper than cable TV?
P.S. What's with these people using this forum to advertise their wares. Can't such marketing be blocked? I'm surprised ZDNet lets this go on.
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Already getting WebTV
FiOS-Dave 30th Jun 2010
With my Verizon package and my Panasonic Viera, I already get WebTV without paying any extra.
I get Picasa, Youtube, and several other feeds, including anything on any of the computers on my network by using their free software.
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RE: Hulu Plus coming to Samsung, Sony, Vizio HDTVs and Blu-ray players.
lindapg27 9th Jul 2010
I'd like to know i have a samsung hdtv. what do i need to make it "connected" or do i have to buy a special tv for that? thanks. I'm looking to get rid of cable permanently and tivo because of finances. I've been looking for stand alone hd dvrs that are netflix ready. Refurbished if possible. Any suggestions? Thanks!
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RE: Hulu Plus coming to Samsung, Sony, Vizio HDTVs and Blu-ray players.
TechDude151 22nd Jul 2010
I just want the best value for my money. I do not subscribe to cable TV because it is flooded with commercials and infomercials. I do not like the idea of paying money to watch advertisements. Commercials were only 15 seconds in length when Hulu was created, but now commercials are much longer. The majority of Hulu content is available over-the-air and can be picked up with an antenna.

I think Netflix's unlimited streaming plus unlimited dvd rentals(one dvd at a time) and no commercials for only $4.99 a month is a very really good deal.

I think it is very interesting how ISP's are capping downloads and cable companies are offering people bundle deals. I was talking to a friend and he said that if he were to buy internet only, it would cost him $70 a month. If he bought the internet plus cable TV bundle his cost would be $50 a month. It seems to me that companies are inflating the cost of internet service to prevent people from dropping cable TV. I know people who subscribe to cable TV just to get cheaper internet access.
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RE: Hulu Plus coming to Samsung, Sony, Vizio HDTVs and Blu-ray players.
bgavin 12th Aug 2010
I am dumping DirectTV at the end of the month: too expensive for what I get. I don't need multiple channels of Sponge Bob.

None of the TV providers allow for any choice in packages. They evidently have not yet figured out we are in hard times, and folks can't pay $100 monthly for TV. I can read a book.

I'm looking at HULU for TV channels we want to see, NetFlix for movies, and Comcast/DirectTV/Dish in the rear view mirror.
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Still waiting for the BRAVIA App..
husseinahmed 20th Sep 2010
I've had the opportunity to enroll in the 9.99 preview for Hulu Plus but still my Barvia TV still says beside the icon "Coming Fall 2010" its really annoying to watch Ads after paying (compare Netflix) and even hook up a computer with cables and spent time my knees working on the connection to enjoy a 20min show on the TV. Come on Hulu remove the Ads, get Sony App out soon and if not I agree that the price should be significantly less. With ~$8 you get X100 more from Netflix. ( husseinahmed.com )
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RE: Hulu Plus coming to Samsung, Sony, Vizio HDTVs and Blu-ray players.
rdatech 30th Sep 2010
@dougogd
Do you realize that ads are the revenue stream for networks not service providers? The reason netflix is ad free is because their content is not current, they have to wait until it is released to DVD. Hulu on the other hand streams shows the day after they air on cable, therefor they have to satisfy the network with advertising, otherwise why would the network allow it???
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RE: Hulu Plus coming to Samsung, Sony, Vizio HDTVs and Blu-ray players.
ALISON SMOCK 17th Jan 2011
It is a total joke! Hulu+ on the sony Blu-Ray does not give you access to all the Hulu content. The access is so limited that the 3 month free that came with the player is over priced.
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RE: Hulu Plus coming to Samsung, Sony, Vizio HDTVs and Blu-ray players.
alterseekers 18th Jan 2011
That's really great to hear. Now it gives us more ways to enjoy our internet-ready gadgets at home connected wirelessly via a wireless router. And speaking of wireless routers, if you're looking for a good one, I recommend you check out the Netgear Wireless Router for Video and Gaming. You can use this device to connect computers, gaming consoles, notebooks, or wireless printers, and also your networked home theater devices. You can also use this to stream video and music from a USB drive to media players and DLNA TV's, even without using a computer. Now that's one powerful wireless router for you. For more information about Netgear's Wireless Router for Video and Gaming, check out this site: http://bit.ly/bByST7. Enjoy!

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