Hulu Plus Becomes Hulu Minus?

Hulu, the online video joint venture of several major video producers, has become the poster child for how to do traditional media online. We've all read phrase such as "Vevo is the Hulu of music videos," etc. Hulu was so successful after its launch in March 2008 that it was profitable within a year. In May of this year, Hulu took it up another notch with Hulu Plus, a $9.95 a month subscription service, giving subscribers access to additional premium content.

Now we get word that Hulu is seriously considering cutting the cost in half, to $4.95 per month. All Things Digital <http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20101021/hulu-plus-take-two-hows-4-95-a-month/> speculates that the problem isn't with the subscription model per se, but rather, some of the specific quirks of the Hulu deal. For example, to avoid tensions with cable companies, some programming is not immediately available through Hulu. There's also the video competition from Netflix with its $8.99/month plan.

So what does this mean for the subscription model in general with respect to media? How does it impact the various music subscription services that are in the works? And does it say anything to news services, such as the New York Times, that are about to go though another round of putting some of their content behind a pay wall?