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Would you pay $5 per month for Hulu Plus?

It might just be a rumor, but the prospect of a 50-percent price cut on Hulu Plus is mighty tantalizing. Would you go for it?

Rick Broida Senior Editor
Rick Broida is the author of numerous books and thousands of reviews, features and blog posts. He writes CNET's popular Cheapskate blog and co-hosts Protocol 1: A Travelers Podcast (about the TV show Travelers). He lives in Michigan, where he previously owned two escape rooms (chronicled in the ebook "I Was a Middle-Aged Zombie").
Rick Broida
2 min read
Hulu Plus hasn't attracted a ton of subscribers at $9.99/month. Would a 50-percent price cut make the difference?
Hulu Plus hasn't attracted a ton of subscribers at $9.99/month. Would a 50-percent price cut make the difference? Hulu

In case you missed the news yesterday, rumor has it Hulu plans to drop the price of Hulu Plus subscriptions to $4.99 per month from the current $9.99.

That's a pretty substantial cut (50 percent, by my math), and it begs an important question: would you subscribe to Hulu Plus if it cost $5 monthly?

I ask because I'm a TV junkie and a big Hulu fan--but I haven't pulled the trigger on a subscription. Believe it or not, my problem isn't so much with the price as it is with the lack of viewing options: there's no Hulu plug-in for Windows Media Center, TiVo, Xbox, Wii, or the like--all of which can stream Netflix just dandy. (At least Hulu Plus has made its way to the Roku boxes--a good start.) In other words, it's not nearly as couch-friendly as Netflix.

And speaking of Netflix, I'm already paying $8.99 for that service--and it doesn't make me watch commercials. So I'm less inclined to spend another $10 per month just so can I catch up on "Outsourced" (which is funnier than most critics would have you believe) while tethered to my PC.

But $5? That's cafe-mocha money. I'd definitely skip one venti calorie-bomb per month in exchange for that rich Hulu Plus library of past and aired-last-night shows. And, hey, I can always watch on my iPhone or iPad.

How about you? Is $5 the magic price point for you to subscribe to the service? Or do you share my complaints about the ads and lack of TV-connected viewing options? Vote in the poll, then hit the comments to talk up this juicy rumor.