Hulu Launching Suscription Service In Japan By End Of 2011 | Europe’s Loss Is Asia’s Gain

Originally published on WebTVWire.com – a TV Technology blog.

Hulu is preparing to set sail and expand internationally for the first time. But Europe isn’t its first landing spot as has been expected, with Japan instead being the first country outside the U.S. to get its own dedicated Hulu.

International Hulu

There has been talk of an international Hulu for as long as the U.S. version has existed. The U.K. appeared to be the first target for these expansion plans, but after several failed attempts to do content deals with the main British broadcasters Hulu decided to give up for the time being.

The problem was that the likes of the BBC, Channel 4, ITV, and Sky all had their own plans for moving their content online, with both for free (supported by advertising) and paid-for options. There are third parties such as SeeSaw but even they’re just muddying the waters to some extent.

In May of this year it was rumored Hulu could be coming to Australia soon, but no launch date or details of any content or advertising deals have been revealed.

Hulu In Japan

However, Hulu has officially announced its plans to move into Japan. The vague release date is currently “later this year,” and the company is withholding any more details on the product set to be launched in order to “leave something to the imagination.”

One thing is clear, however, and that is that Hulu in Japan will be purely a paid subscription offering, with a “large selection of premium feature films and popular TV shows” available on a range of devices for “one monthly price.”

This isn’t that unexpected. Although the U.S. has a free option there is no business sense in offering a similar deal to users in other countries. Hulu Plus costs $7.99-a-month and I would expect a similar price to be set for the Japanese service.

Conclusions

I find it a little strange that on the one hand Hulu is being sold off while on the other the company is expanding internationally and experimenting with original content. I guess the company is trying to make itself more attractive to its potential investors, although clearly nothing it is doing is enough to persuade its current crop of owners to hold on to Hulu for the longterm.

Will a Japanese operation and a partnership with Morgan Spurlock be enough to get Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo!, or Google dipping their hands in their pockets?

[Via The Hulu Blog]

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