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Hulu marks its first year in Japan by opening up access on Apple TV
It's been a year since Hulu launched its streaming video service in Japan, and to celebrate it's released its app on Apple TVs there. It hasn't all been roses for the last twelve months, with a price drop in April -- and we're not seeing any celebration of subscriber figures in the blog post -- despite including things like HBO that it seems unlikely we'll see on Hulu domestically. Just like the Apple TV app that popped up over here, Japanese users should simply find it on their devices, while prospective subscribers are being enticed with one month free subscriptions if they sign up via their hockey puck.
Hulu Japan lands HBO content, but don't expect any changes in the US
Hulu Japan has mailed in a status update noting that its content library has increased by more than 300 percent since launching last fall, now amounting to over 800 films and around 6,900 TV shows. Newly added to that list is Mad Men and more notably, "select HBO shows" including Entourage and Sex And The City today, followed by Entourage and Band of Brothers later this year. Of course, similar to the situation that sees Showtime favorites like Dexter available on Netflix in Latin America but not here in the States, it doesn't make it any more likely HBO will suddenly become cord-cutter friendly at home -- this is an international deal only. Hulu does have more good news in Japan though, now that it works on more devices with the Wii coming soon and "aggressive expansion" planned for the rest of 2012. While it doesn't help the list of Hulu Plus-compatible Android phones grow any faster, there is a quick trailer celebrating the new content, viewers on either side of the Pacific can check it out after the break.
Hulu reducing monthly subscription prices in Japan by 33 percent
Looks like Huluers in the Land of the Rising Sun may have something to cheer about, as the entertainment service announced earlier it's lowering its monthly fees. Hulu claims the reason behind the dropped prices comes from having "listened to user feedback and assessed current market situations" -- or perhaps from taking note of the million-plus customers it gained with a similar strategy in the US. With the new charge, Japanese folks will only have to shell out 980 yen (around $12) per month, a hefty reduction considering the previous fee of 1480 yen. Naturally, before the current clientele throws a temper tantrum, Hulu's promising a 500 yen refund to make up for the recent shift in prices. You can learn the rest of the deets on the Hulu blog, which is linked down below.
