Hulu Kids Takes On Netflix

The battle to win over the Saturday morning cartoon crowd is heating up with Hulu announcing a new feature called Hulu Kids. The massively popular online video site announced the new video library feature on Thursday morning. Visitors to the site can navigate to Hulu.com/kids where they will find the ability to browse for “family friendly” and “engaging” children’s programming.

As an added bonus the videos found via Hulu Kids are commercial free. Among some of the platforms offerings are “Thomas & Friends,” “Caillou,” and “SpongeBob SquarePants. Hulu has secured content agreements with the likes of PBS, Viacom and Nickelodeon.

Hulu Kids also features “kid friendly” categories such as “Dino Time” which offers “Dinosaur Train” and “Barney” episodes. The new section also offers “Cartoon Favorites” and other categories that are geared towards different interests.

Hulu has taken a child’s ability to navigate complex screens into account as well, featuring a grid format that is simple to browse while providing kids with a great overview of all available content. The grid format also features large images so kids can see exactly what they are about to choose.

While the shows are commercial free the Hulu Kids platform does require a $7.99 monthly subscription known as Hulu Plus.

This summer Netflix rolled out “Just For Kids” a similar program that allows children to browse shows that are safe for younger audiences. The “Just for Kids” program has been so successful for Netflix that it rolled the program out for Apple iPad devices in October.

Hulu Kids is already supported by the company’s web portal and its PlayStation 3 (PS3) app. The PS3 Blu-ray remote also works with Hulu Kids for added control.

If the Hulu Kids platform proves to be a success we will likely see more of the program on other devices. Hulu is currently supported by Roku, Nintendo Wii, PS3, Blu-Ray players and various other devices.

 [Image via geekcentricity]