Hulu is already not as popular as rival Netflix and there will be more competition from Amazon and the Redbox Instant service, and now the future of the service itself has become uncertain due to problems from the inside.

According to available info, News Corp. and Disney, the two companies which each own roughly a third of Hulu, have started discussing the future of the service and their own stakes in the company. The two companies have plans to purchase the other’s stake or sell it to an outside company. Apparently, they have disagreements regarding the direction in which Hulu should go.

Currently, Hulu offers a free version and also a Hulu Plus subscription service and both the offerings include ads. The disagreement between the two companies is that Disney prefers an ad-supported strategy, while News Corp. feels that the focus should be on subscriptions. In the case of subscriptions, Hulu with just 3 million subscribers is nowhere near Netflix’s 27 million.

Hulu’s CEO Jason Kilar and CTO Tom Rich earlier announced their plans to step down from the company. So the future of the service might only be decided after its new CEO and CTO are announced, possibly along with new owners as well. Till then uncertainty surrounds Hulu.

Do you use Hulu regularly? Do you subscribe to Hulu Plus?

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Redbox Instant has been around for about a month now, at least for the very few who managed to get beta invites. Curious about the service but not able to try it due to limited access at this point? The good news is that the beta is ending.

Sometime in March Redbox will open the streaming service up, ending the beta stage of the product. So what exactly is Redbox Instant all about? At $7.99 a month you get access to four DVD kiosk rentals each month and unlimited streaming content from Redbox’s website.

While the library content is pretty limited right now (with about 4,500 films), it is certainly off to a decent start. What do you think, interested in Redbox Instant or not?

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Looking for an alternative to Netflix and Amazon Instant Video? Soon you will have one in the form of Redbox Instant.

Official details have now leaked revealing that the service will set you back just $6 per month for an unlimited subscription. While this is $2 cheaper than Netflix, it is also worth noting that the video selection is going to be significantly smaller. For those that use Redbox regularly, there is also going to be an $8 subscription that includes four Redbox credits each month that you can use to pick up a movie over at your local Redbox.

Redbox Instant will run using Microsoft Silverlight technology and will be compatible with the PC, Android, iOS, Xbox 360 and Samsung’s Smart TV platform. More than likely other platforms will be supported down the road as well.

So when is the new service coming? The leaked information from Redbox suggests the new service will be officially launched to the public on December 17th. What do you think, tempted by this Netflix alternative or not?

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