Hate ads on Hulu? There's finally a solution... but it'll cost you.
Hulu announced on Wednesday that it would be introducing a new subscription tier that will remove advertising from its platform.
[seealso slug=http://sale-online.click/2015/06/23/jerry-seinfeld-used-a-mac/%5D%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EThe ad-free version will cost $11.99 per month, a significant step up from the company's $7.99 option that includes regular (and annoying) commercial breaks. The new option puts Hulu's price on par with a Netflix option that charges $11.99 for high definition and the ability to watch on up to four screens at the same time.
Just tried Hulu ad free -- on "Modern Family" (ep: "Halloween 3: Awesomeland"). It is -- yup -- awesomeland. Netflix, beware...— vernejgay (@vernejgay) September 2, 2015
Both Hulu subscriptions -- the $7.99 and the $11.99 -- will feature the same choice of shows, including Empire.
"Many of our customers have asked us for a commercial free option, and so today we are excited to introduce just that," said Mike Hopkins, CEO of Hulu.
Hulu has been working to stay competitive with other streaming rivals like Netflix and HBO, which allow users to binge-watch straight through shows with no commercials except the occasional promotion of their own content.
That has meant making major investments in new content, both in-house originals and rights for existing TV shows and movies. Hulu recently made a major upgrade in its film catalogue by acquiring the rights to the Epix catalogue, which includes the Hunger Games and Transformers franchises. In April, it bought the streaming rights for every episode of Seinfeld.
Hulu's inclusion of ads on its subscription service had been a long-running complaint from consumers, although not everybody was thrilled that the change meant having to pay more.
I've been using @hulu more than Netflix lately and while their new (mostly) ad-free service is good, having to paying more is ridiculous.— Rand Duren (@RandDuren) September 2, 2015