Hulu Bringing Free Shows to Phones This Summer Pizza Ordering Later
Starting this summer, you won't need a paid subscription to watch Hulu shows on your phone or tablet. Hulu says it's bringing "a selection of ad-supported full TV episodes" to mobile devices for free this summer. Users will still get a bigger selection with an 8 per month Hulu Plus subscription, but will no longer be completely cut off from full episodes as they are now. Currently, Hulu only lets non-paying users watch short video clips. There's no word on how many shows or episodes will be available for free, or how closely the mobile version will resemble Hulu's free desktop website. According to The Verge, Android will get the free episodes first, followed by iOS. Hulu also announced several other initiatives and milestones in a blog post. The company now has 6 million Hulu Plus subscribers, and is continuing to kick up more original programming to compete with Netflix and Amazon. If you haven't heard of Hulu's original shows, the company plans to change that by tripling its content marketing budget. Hulu says it will be trying some new things in advertising as well, including an in-ad purchase mechanism later this year. The first partner will be Pizza Hut, allowing viewers to order a pie during commercial breaks.