LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Content on Hulu will remain free. Membership with Hulu Plus will allow users to see additional episodes and offer a more comprehensive selection.

According to a newspaper report, Hulu users would have free access to the five most recent episodes of popular shows - but viewing more episodes would require the subscriber to purchase the Hulu Plus package.

Hulu officials announced that it turned a profit in the two latest quarters. The two-year-old service is owned by News Corp., NBC Universal and the Walt Disney Co. has generated more than $100 million in revenue from advertising.

While this sounds like a substantial amount of money, it's still relatively "small potatoes" to what these conglomerates are used to making with other ventures. The introduction of Hulu Plus is expected to generate even more income.

TV producers have seen the grim results of the newspaper and music industry when stacked against free Internet content. Millions of consumers flocked to online services and left a lot of respective media companies with gaping holes in their bank accounts. TV executives can no longer justify offering the same TV shows gratis, and want funds generated from quality video content.

While programs on Hulu feature commercials, there are fewer spots there than on regular television. Hulu will now be expected to adopt the same commercial loads as network television.