According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, citing sources ‘in the know,’ Hulu – the thus-far ‘free’ online site for viewing TV shows – will soon introduce a $10 monthly subscription offering for select shows.

On the verge of executing apparently the most difficult approach in the digital arena, marking a move from ‘free’ to ‘pay’, Hulu will reportedly commence the testing of its subscription model from May 24.

Under the planned move, Hulu will seek a subscription payment from the users for accessing the older episodes of shows like ‘Modern Family’ on ABC; ‘Saturday Night Live’ on NBC; and ‘Glee’ on Fox. However, five most recent episodes of these shows will still be free.

Noting that Hulu’s decision to take the subscriptions route, after offering free content till now, might not be a easy move for the company, analyst Will Richmond, at VideoNuze, said: “Going from free to paid is one of the hardest challenges that any company ever faces. It's a lot easier to go from paid to free than go from free to paid.”

With Hulu fans already criticizing the subscription proposal, hinting that they may turn to Internet pirate sites for watching their favorite shows, Gartner media analyst Michael McGuire is of the opinion that Hulu will have to prove that it has enough ‘added value’ for consumers to consider it “worth the price.”