Hulu plans to drop its Hulu Plus brand while picking up one of the biggest brands in entertainment, the company announced at its NewFront presentation in New York on Tuesday.
"Our condolences to the Plus in Hulu Plus," said Amy Poehler during the event, which was expected to attract 2,000 attendees. Ms. Poehler is producing an original comedy, "Difficult People," that will premiere on Hulu this summer.
Hulu Plus referred to the online video service's paid subscription tier that asks people to pay $7.99 a month to access more of Hulu's TV content with fewer ads. The brand's demise doesn't mean Hulu's paid subscription service is going away. Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins said Hulu has more than 9 million subscribers, which is a 50% increase year-over-year. He described the rationale to drop the Hulu Plus brand as a need to erase confusion among people -- including Mr. Hopkins' mom -- trying to understand the difference between Hulu and Hulu Plus.
"2015 is the year Hulu will break out," Mr. Hopkins said.
To that end, Hulu announced a bevy of new original series and old TV shows that will be available to stream on its service as well as a deal with Cablevision to help boost its subscriber numbers.