• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, May 1, 2013

Hulu Plus is no Netflix -- and vice-versa. What kind of lessons can they learn from each other?

Hulu’s original episodes cost "six figures" apiece to produce.  Does that mean $100,000? $500,000? We think it’s the low end. That’s a far cry from traditional TV’s spending of $2 million for a comedy episode -- or perhaps double that an hour-long drama.

What about the per-episode cost for Netflix’s highly regarded "House of Cards"? A reported $100 million for two years worth of the series comes to $3.8 million per each of the 26 episodes. That's comparable to what shows cost on traditional TV networks.

To be sure Netflix got quality here for its expenditure -- not only rave reviews, but more customers.

In any event, according to many analysts, traditional TV has already had too much price inflation.

Hulu’s basic service gets advertising revenues and its Hulu Plus service also gets subscription fees. Netflix has no advertisers. Hulu also gets revenue for its original shows via video-on-demand and syndication.

Like a traditional network, Hulu announced new original shows (11 of them) during its "NewFront" presentation. Netflix says it might ramp up a couple of dozen new original shows in the coming years.

So here is the bottom line: Netflix has around 30 million customers who pay $8 a month; Hulu Plus has around 4 million customers, also paying $8 a month. Money continues to flow nicely into their respective coffers.

But does it end there? Couldn't Netflix do the reverse of Hulu by starting a lower-priced -- or free – service with advertising? It seems no new media company wants to leave any stone unturned, especially regarding TV-related business formulas.

After all, a report earlier this year said YouTube would launch a premium paid service charging around $1-5 per month for some 25 channels.

The new digital video world of original TV shows has only begun. We can only wonder what next year's NewFronts will bring and what lessons will have been learned -- or avoided -- by then.