Hulu just launched its $40-a-month cable-TV competitor — here are all the details

Hulu With Live TV works much like a cable- or satellite-TV package, except it's delivered over the internet to your smart TV, phone, tablet, and so on.

The interface is focused on blending the worlds of live TV and on-demand into one product, and the live-TV package includes access to all the content in Hulu's current $7.99 offering as well. That means if you are a Hulu subscriber already, the new service costs an additional $32 a month.

"You shouldn't have to think about whether something is live, recorded, or on-demand, or care about which device you're using," Ben Smith, a Hulu senior vice president, said in a statement about the new service.

The new package of "over 50 channels" is built on deals with the four big broadcast networks: ABC, Fox, NBC, and crucially CBS, which has been absent from some early streaming-TV packages. So you get all of those plus the cable channels they own. One caveat is that local affiliate stations aren't available in some markets because of complicated rights deals, so that's something you should check on.

Generally, the package has an impressive breadth of content for $40 a month. It hits two major points of live TV well: sports and news. For sports fans, there's ESPN, CBS, NBC, Fox Sports, and TNT. To keep up on the news, you get CNN, Fox News, and most others you'd want.

Getting a deal with Turner is a big plus for Hulu since it means CNN, TNT, TBS, and other Turner channels are in the bundle. This was a conspicuous hole in YouTube's $35 live-TV product released last month.

One nifty aspect for sports fans is that Hulu allows you to follow your favorite pro or college teams and will surface those games for you instead of you having to figure out what channel they are on.

Beyond sports and news, Hulu's package includes Food Network, FX, Bravo, E!, USA, and National Geographic, to name a few. (Beyond the broadcast networks, Hulu has deals with Turner, A&E, and Scripps.) The biggest hole is the lack of AMC and Viacom, so no Comedy Central.

In short, this service has a great programming mix for $40 a month.

Here's a rundown of a few other key features of Hulu's live-TV service:

50 hours of recording storage to watch shows whenever you want.
Two simultaneous streams per account.
Hulu's existing $7.99 streaming content is included.
Showtime is an $8.99-a-month extra.

Hulu has nailed the interface on this new service — my colleague Jeff Dunn described it as "exceedingly pleasant" when he tested it. But the major question will be how well the live-TV product performs technically.

Technical snafus have in these early days plagued many streaming-TV packages, including Sling TV and DirecTV Now. Hulu's live-TV service needs to work when you turn it on, every time. That's nonnegotiable.

Right now, the beta of Hulu's live-TV service will run on Xbox One, Apple TV (fourth generation), Chromecast, iOS, and Android mobile devices. But there's no support at the moment for Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire TV Sticks, and Samsung Smart TVs, which Hulu says "will be supported soon." Roku is a puzzling absence considering it's the market leader in streaming boxes and a bunch of smart TVs are sold with its interface baked in.

Overall, Hulu's live-TV package is one of the most compelling. A $40 price point could be low enough to lure cord-cutters into the ecosystem, given the impressive breadth of content, especially in news and sports. If Hulu can get the technical performance right, its mix of price, programming, and slick interface could snag a big chunk of subscribers.

You can sign up for the public beta here and get a free week trial.