Hulu subscription testing said imminent

More Hulu news has surfaced this evening as a leak now suggests the paid Hulu Plus service will start running in a matter of days. Anonymous contacts said a trial version of the subscription TV streaming is due to go live before the end of June. It would be invite-only at first, and negotiations with studios are believed to still be in later stages.

The tips didn't confirm whether or not CBS and Time Warner might come onboard, but the WSJ now understands that the iPad would be one of the primary focuses as other devices are only possibilities. Sources echoed earlier rumors that would have the service cost $10 per month and would provide access to a deeper catalog of material than the free site.

Details weren't necessarily fixed in place and could change at the last minute.

Hulu Plus is believed to be part of a broader push to get Hulu on to mobile devices but also to get more TV-like revenues from the studio-backed site. A typical Hulu video has one quarter of the ads of a simliar-length show on TV, leaving studios reluctant to encourage too much of a shift to Internet viewing; cable and satellite providers have also fought to keep customers from having too much of an incentive to drop cable packages. As a result of both, Hulu has actively blocked attempts to put its video on TV-friendly apps and devices, such as Boxee.

By Electronista Staff