Hulu Eyes Charge for IPad Users

Ars Technica reports: Your favorite shows from Hulu may be coming to the Apple iPad after all, but only if you're a paying customer. Sources speaking to MediaMemo say that Hulu is considering a pay version of Hulu on the iPad as part of its larger plan to eventually charge for content.

The company has been entertaining the idea of introducing some kind of pay model to its TV and movie offerings since at least mid-2009 and probably earlier. Since then, Hulu has been discussing the possibilities a little more publicly, with the most recent talks involving the idea of putting back episodes of shows behind a paywall while keeping recent TV episodes free.

The latest report has the company considering moving from a one-screen model (keeping shows limited to your browser) to a three-screen service: computer, TV, and mobile. "Just three screens alone is pretty enticing," one unnamed executive told MediaMemo.

Indeed, the browser limitation was one that we heavily criticized when the idea of Hulu charging for content first came out; if the company allowed TV and mobile streaming as part of the subscription plan, but kept browser-watching free, it could very well entice consumers to fork over a few dollars every month. "Everyone’s concerned about making a strong offering at a good price, and not undercutting the existing business," another source said.

Such a move move wouldn't be surprising—it's a common practice for companies that offer multiple tiers of service to only make extras available to paying subscribers. The bigger question would be how Hulu plans to bring its content to mobile devices when Flash support is still missing from the most popular of those devices (iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad included).

The company isn't stupid, though—we were told recently that Hulu listens closely to customer requests and is constantly evaluating how it can improve the viewing experience. Translation: we'll consider ditching Flash for other technologies if our customers want it bad enough (and we can convince the content providers to go for it).