Not having commercials interrupt the video content that users are paying top dollar for is the hallmark of a modern subscription video service. Hulu, the only streaming video subscription service capable of competing against juggernaut Netflix, has always boasted ads, even when it introduced a paid version of its service for users to access more content. Today, Hulu revealed that it has plans to remedy the ad problem in Hulu streaming apps for the Xbox One, iPhone and more. The service has a $12 a month option coming that’ll do away with commercials — sort of.
Variety reports that Hulu announced a new commercial-free subscription service this morning. Costing $12 per month, subscribers will get to fully watch some shows in its line-up without having to sit through the solid three minutes of commercial content they have now. The wrinkle with Hulu’s new scheme to get users to pay even more for the option to not sit through sponsors? Some shows — mainly the high-profile content everyone will flock to Hulu for — will have short advertisements before the show starts. Hulu hopes that users who refuse to pay for its free service will flock to this service.
Hulu’s regularly priced options will continue to remain available.