Planet Family Guy

The hugely popular online video site Hulu is preparing to introduce a subscription fee in order to watch much of its content. The site has gained a lot of attention in the US by providing free access to shows like Family Guy using advertising to finance the site, but that could all about to change. According to the Direct Traffic Media website Hulu are planning on putting up a paywall behind which most of its extensive back catologue will be placed.

Apparently they intend to continue offering a free five-day catch-up service, but those wanting to access episodes older than that would need to subscribe for it. The current proposal is a $9.95 per month fee.

This is an interesting move, and one that could be very difficult for Hulu to successfully pull off. Would you be prepared to pay for the service in order to continue to be able to watch shows like Family Guy on it?

Tomorrow's Valentine's day and if you haven't sorted out that valentine card yet you could always splash out on an eValentine from Fox! OK so you're other half may think you're a bit cheap, but you can send one of 16 designs based upon Family Guy, American Dad, The Cleveland Show, or The Simpsons. They'll also act as a reminder that tomorrow's Animation Domination is all new episodes starting at 8pm/7pm C.

Glu Mobile have launched a mini-website to promote their Family Guy Uncensored mobile game where you can try the game for free online. If you like the game its $9.99 from the website.

Planet Family Guy is now on Twitter (actually we’ve been on there for a while, but we just hadn’t got round to making an official announcement). Twitter is a microblogging website of updates of no more than 140 characters in length. By following us on Twitter you’ll be able to keep up to date with the latest news and updates, as well as the latest thoughts and opinions of the Planet Family Guy staff.

If you are a member of Twitter you can now also contact us by including @planetfg in an update.

Twentieth Century Fox has joined forces with popular social networking site MySpace to promote Family Guy. Initially the Family Guy community page will host 150 clips from the show, with a 20 new clips added each month for the next six months. Fox hopes that users will post the clips on their pages, spreading the viral campaign.

The NBC, News Corp., and Disney owned Hulu website that has been offering full episodes of Family Guy among other shows to watch for free may start charging people for use of the site according to a recent statement made by Jonathan Miller, chief digital officer of News Corp.. Chattahbox.com reports that News Corp. (the parent company of Fox) “is thought to be the major player in the eventual push towards charging fees for some content.” News Corp. owns a large stake of Hulu.

However, for the time being full episodes of Family Guy can be watched for free on the Hulu website (with the US).

Fox have partnered with the website Aniboom to launch the Fox-Aniboom Holiday Animation Challenge, an animation contest to find the next great Fox holiday TV special.

With JJ Abrams’ new Star Trek film about to be released in cinemas worldwide, rebooting the franchise, IGN have put together a list of their top 10 Star Trek references on Family Guy. In top position is the William Shatner spoof in the first season’s I Never Met the Dead Man.

AudioMicro, the online music library, is adding over 170 original scores from Family Guy composer Ron Jones to its collection. According to the press release: “The addition of Ron Jones’ collection permits the popular composer’s work to be available for use in everyday video projects from YouTube movies to short films, all at affordable licensing fees as little as $1 per minute.”

Hulu has pulled Family Guy among other shows from third party sites including CBS Corp. owned TV.com. Hulu, co-funded by NBC and Fox, has cited “contractual rights” with content holders for pulling back Family Guy and others from third party sites. Full episodes of Family Guy can still be streamed on Hulu’s website.