Hulu

[rosebud5]

I'm sick of cable tV that offers hundreds channels, most of which are garbage and the cost of it. The most important channels to me are local channels (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox). That said, I'm looking at other services to supplement our watching activity should be decide to get rid of Xfinity. We have Netflix and Amazon Prime, but I'm wondering about Hulu. If you have Hulu, what is it that you like (other than price) that you cant get from cable or satellite. What other streaming services do you watch, why and do you think its worth what you pay? Finally, what other streaming service offers local channels?

 

[bbodb1]

We have occasionally subscribed to Hulu in the past if we could find something on there we were interested in watching. I do like the fact Hulu allows you to pause your service at no charge.

Having said that, the content on Hulu streaming (NOT live TV) seems to have dropped a lot of the classic TV content or moved it under the Hulu Live subscription. For us, the attractiveness of Hulu has markedly diminished but it is at least worth a look for a month to sample its content.

 

[wackymother]

I think Sling offers local channels.

I do like Hulu. Lots of TV, including Brooklyn Nine-Nine--that is, current shows that you might not get to every week. Easy to use. We also have Netflix and Amazon Prime.

With all the streaming services, what I like most is that everything is curated for me. I don't have to hunt for the shows I want.

We have the cheaper Hulu plan, with commercials, which I don't mind, but it drives some people bonkers.

 

[wackymother]

We have occasionally subscribed to Hulu in the past if we could find something on there we were interested in watching. I do like the fact Hulu allows you to pause your service at no charge.

Right, I forgot that! Hulu lets you take a break. They will freeze your account for up to three months.

 

[Makai Guy]

Live local channels are streamed by DirecTV Now, Fubo TV, Hulu, PlayStation Vue, Sling TV and YouTube TV. If you find an article listing Playstation Vue, the article is out of date -- Sony's Playstation Vue shut down a few months ago.
Clark Howard article on streaming locals

 

[Cornell]

About 9 mos ago, I ditched cable and went with Hulu Live. I hated it. So much that I went back to cable. It was fine for streaming shows / movies like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, etc. But I got Hulu Live as it provides DVR capabilities. There are certain network shows that I like to record and watch on my time. Their DVR would not allow fast forwarding over many of my recorded shows, so I had to sit through commercials (which to me is one the reasons I record shows - to skip commercials). It's also not intuitive or user-friendly. Was not a good experience for me.

 

[rosebud5]

When you watch TV service like Hulu, are the shows current? In other words, I like watching Surviiver every wednesday night. If Hulu carried this show, would I watch the most current show live or would I get last weeks show? Is Hulu live essentially this service?

 

[Cornell]

When you watch TV service like Hulu, are the shows current? In other words, I like watching Surviiver every wednesday night. If Hulu carried this show, would I watch the most current show live or would I get last weeks show? Is Hulu live essentially this service?

Yes Hulu Live shows are current.

 

[bbodb1]

When you watch TV service like Hulu, are the shows current? In other words, I like watching Surviiver every wednesday night. If Hulu carried this show, would I watch the most current show live or would I get last weeks show? Is Hulu live essentially this service?

Yes Hulu Live shows are current.

Just to expand on this point, Hulu (NOT live) will have old seasons of shows but you have to wait for current seasons to 'drop' (i.e. show up) on Hulu. For example, several HGTV series are available on Hulu but these are the previous (past) seasons. In some cases, it may be close to a year (maybe two) before another season of shows drops on Hulu.

I remember watching The Last Ship (a TNT production) on Hulu when only the 1st 3 seasons were available. It just so happened that season 4 dropped a few weeks after I caught up, then I had to wait several months for season 5.

If you can stand watching TV in this manner (i.e. pick up / put down / pick up again a series over an extended time), it's a cheaper way to watch TV.

 

[b2bailey]

When you watch TV service like Hulu, are the shows current? In other words, I like watching Surviiver every wednesday night. If Hulu carried this show, would I watch the most current show live or would I get last weeks show? Is Hulu live essentially this service?

I don't have Hulu live. I am able to watch the current episode of Survivor on Thursday. ( HEY, thanks for reminding me.) I pay $11.99 for the 'no commercials ' version. Well worth extra $.I

Edited to say: I made an error above. I went to watch the current episode of Survivor on Hulu. It was then I realized that I had to break down and subscribe separately to CBS for $5.99 per month, JUST so I could watch this special season of Survivor. But the great part is that I could put Hulu on hold while I caught up with all the CBS shows I had missed. When Survivor ends next week, I can cancel the additional fee for CBS if I choose.

 

[mjm1]

We switched from DirectTV to Hulu Live and it has worked out for us. We get all of the current shows and we like to record them and watch them when we want to. We are able to skip through commercials. You have to scroll through the Alphabetical channel guide rather than jump directly to a specific channel, but we got used to it. The only channel we lost that mattered was NFL Network, but I haven’t missed it much. You can sign up for a free trial and then decide if you want to keep it. We also subscribe to Netflix, which we have had for years.

We constantly receive offers to rejoin DirectTV, but haven’t been tempted to do so.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[bbodb1]

As a bit of a side note, some cellular carriers have offered discount deals on streaming services. For example, we have TMobile and through them we get a discounted rate in Netflix.

You might want to check your cellular provider for any similar current promotions.

 

[isisdave]

The best deal for networks is over-the-air TV. I had to go to some lengths to get this to work, as we're halfway between LA and San Diego, 60 miles from either. Use with Tivo or another DVR from ChannelMaster or Silicon Dust or Amazon Fire TV Recast.

Next best deal for now for networks is locast.org but they're not in NC.

Sling is having a free "Stay in with Sling" promotion now where you get the Sling Blue channels from 5pm to midnight. They don't say how long this will go on. Sling has NBC and/or FOX in some markets, but not all and not NC. Ordinarily it's $30 per month; a special gets you $10 off the first month.

We used Youtube TV for a while. It was OK and $50 per month; it had the local broadcast stations. We only watch about two cable channels, which I why I pursued the OTA antenna. But $50 is better than $90. They have limitless recording and on-demand programs. You can get a 14-day free trial. Hulu Live is slightly more and similar; DS has that.

One of the biggest gripes is that every TV app (HBO, Sling, Youtube, etc) has its own, slightly different, user interface. This drives non-technical DW into rages. For my part, I can never remember what platform Program X is on, and end up searching the three or four we regularly use. And the Sling app for Samsung Smart TV is awful, while the one for Amazon Fire TV is wonderful. Why? It's partly because Samsung asked themselves "How few buttons can we manage to put on a remote?" So there is no button that will bring up Sling's home screen. I've ordered the Tivo Stream 4K, which looks like a big, hardware-based Sling App, but they swear it runs 4000 other apps and that I can return it if I don't like it. I'm hoping it will bring consistency to the various apps. $50 now, introductory special. I've had Tivo boxes for years and love them.