Hulu's upcoming live streaming television service could launch as soon as early May, reports TechCrunch. Hulu has already confirmed the service will launch in the spring, but has not given a more specific public launch date.
Internally, the company is said to be telling employees that the first week of May is being targeted for launch, but TechCrunch says this is a rolling target date that could shift to later in May if necessary.
Despite the internal communication - which we've seen - claiming the "first week of May" launch, we've also heard that the chatter among employees is that consumers will likely get the service around mid-May. In addition, other sources familiar with Hulu's launch plans have confirmed that mid-May is just as likely as earlier in the month. It could even end up being the third week.
In other words, "mid-May" doesn't translate to a May 15th launch.
However, the month of May - in general - is definitely a go.
The official launch date of the service is perhaps dependent on an ongoing beta testing period that the company is using to garner feedback from users and eliminate bugs.
Rumors suggest Hulu plans to price its upcoming television service at $39.99 per month, with an add-on cloud DVR service that could cost an additional $20 per month for "unlimited" storage capped at 200 hours of programming.
Hulu is said to be planning to allow concurrent devices on up to three devices in the same home, and channels will include content from CBS, 21st Century Fox, ESPN, and Disney. Many details of Hulu's upcoming service remain a mystery, including whether or not the company will offer multiple packages like DirecTV Now, but its TV package is "comparable" to rival services.
Hulu's streaming service will offer a mix of live TV and on-demand content, something that will make the service unique among its peers.
Top Rated Comments
So I am not sure what the net gain is.