Premium online video streaming destination Hulu is on the auction block and the potential object of acquisition for many a global media, technology, and entertainment companies. It’s also the object of attention for many new Hulu Plus subscribers.
Hulu CEO Jason Kilar announced in a blog post today subscribers to the $7.99 monthly service (that gives users access to more programming than your regular average Hulu and the ability to watch that programming in HD and on more devices than your computer) are up for the month of June. Way up, in fact, bringing the total number of Hulu Plus paying members to 875,000.
Originally Kilar expected to Hulu Plus to become a member of the One Million Subscribers Club by the end of the year, but with month-over-month increase on the rise, he’s upped his estimated date to the end of summer. The increase in the rate of subscriber acquisition is because of a few recent changes with Hulu and the way people consume the type of programming Hulu distributes:
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- Hulu Plus is now available on a ton of devices. Kilar notes in the last three months alone the service has been made accessible by way of Xbox 360 and Kinect, select Android smart phones, Tivo Premiere DVRs, and select Samsung Blu-Ray players. That puts the total number of devices on which subscribers can watch Hulu Plus at upwards of 100 million.
- Hulu Plus has increased the size of its content library. The service now has over 15,000 total hours of content across 28,000 episodes, 2,180 TV series, 25,000 clips, and 1,450 movies.
- Online video prime time is now prime time. More individuals are watching more full-length movies and TV programs on the internet every day, which gives Hulu Plus and increasingly larger audience from which to acquire subscribers.
Kilar also reveals an interesting aspect of his company’s business model in the announcement. Hulu pays the content community roughly $8 per subscriber per month for the content it offers via Hulu Plus. That’s what the $7.99 monthly subscription fee goes towards. Hulu Plus makes a profit (and helps Hulu make a profit) by the limited commercial interruptions Hulu delivers before and throughout the television shows and movies it streams.
