Poll of the Day > Thoughts on the Hulu streaming service?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Good bad or somewhere in the middle?

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I was considering getting it to watch futurama and animaniacs. But at this point it is basically just cable through your internet rather than the cable company.

The bundling options suck, the ad free versions are more expensive than they should be, and the live TV option is a cable package that defaults your package to having ads. I'm told there is an ad free with live option as well, but it wasn't giving me that option on sign up.

Decided not to bother with it for now. Only reason I still have disney+ is that I am currently grandfathered in at the 79.99 a year for adfree price. If that changes I'm dropping.

Hulu is fine, I would get the ad free but I believe they are about to jack the price up on it so it would be a better deal to get the bundle with Disney+. The live tv is fine, I used it the last 2 years for football and hockey season. Although, very annoyingly, if you record a program it still makes you watch the ads when you watch it, you can't fast forward through them If you are looking for TV streaming, youtube TV is better. If you want Hulu and Disney+ and tv streaming, then adding live TV is cheaper with Hulu.

slacker03150 posted...

I was considering getting it to watch futurama and animaniacs. But at this point it is basically just cable through your internet rather than the cable company.

The bundling options suck, the ad free versions are more expensive than they should be, and the live TV option is a cable package that defaults your package to having ads. I'm told there is an ad free with live option as well, but it wasn't giving me that option on sign up.

Decided not to bother with it for now. Only reason I still have disney+ is that I am currently grandfathered in at the 79.99 a year for adfree price. If that changes I'm dropping.

@slacker03150 yeah Im on a month trial for Hulu and there just isnt much to really say its worth the price especially if you have Netflix like me

Archgoat posted...

Hulu is fine, I would get the ad free but I believe they are about to jack the price up on it so it would be a better deal to get the bundle with Disney+. The live tv is fine, I used it the last 2 years for football and hockey season. Although, very annoyingly, if you record a program it still makes you watch the ads when you watch it, you can't fast forward through them If you are looking for TV streaming, youtube TV is better. If you want Hulu and Disney+ and tv streaming, then adding live TV is cheaper with Hulu.

@Archgoat yeah itll be around 18 bucks in October for ad free Hulu

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Yeah this. Hulu has ads?

It's a bit mind blowing how it seems that every streaming service is jacking up rates these days, we are getting to the point where the old days of Cable were actually cheaper then having every single major streaming service at once.

Even if you limit to the big boys like

Hulu
Netflix
Max
Disney+
Apple+
Amazon Prime

That is well over $100 a month, even if you divide the Amazon Prime a bit since it provides a lot of other things.

I don't remember why I have Hulu but I do. I barely use it though I have been using it to watch the x-files somewhat sporadically this past year.
I guess we'll see what happens when my credit card expires.

Monopoman posted...

It's a bit mind blowing how it seems that every streaming service is jacking up rates these days, we are getting to the point where the old days of Cable were actually cheaper then having every single major streaming service at once.

Even if you limit to the big boys like

Hulu
Netflix
Max
Disney+
Apple+
Amazon Prime

That is well over $100 a month, even if you divide the Amazon Prime a bit since it provides a lot of other things.

Paying for dish costs far more than that per month and most of the channels are showing low tier garbage or reruns of stuff like the office non-stop

NightMareBunny posted...

Paying for dish costs far more than that per month and most of the channels are showing low tier garbage or reruns of stuff like the office non-stop

Yeah I admit I cut the cord a long time ago so back then I was paying like $100ish for expanded cable without any premium channels like HBO. That was probably back in like 2017 or something like that it appears the cost has gone up big time.

That's where I watch Cheers and What We Do In The Shadows

Monopoman posted...

It's a bit mind blowing how it seems that every streaming service is jacking up rates these days, we are getting to the point where the old days of Cable were actually cheaper then having every single major streaming service at once.

Even if you limit to the big boys like

Hulu
Netflix
Max
Disney+
Apple+
Amazon Prime

That is well over $100 a month, even if you divide the Amazon Prime a bit since it provides a lot of other things.

You could just... not get all of them? Plus, unlike cable, you can just wait until the shows you want are available and get one for a month, then cancel. The "this is worse than cable" complaints don't hold weight, because the biggest complaint with cable was that you couldn't just buy the channels you wanted, you had to get all of them. Streaming services are channels you can choose to buy.

First you get a free month (of most of the services) every 6 months to a year (Depends on the service). I have a free month of Hulu right now waiting for me to bother signing up (they send you emails).

I also have 6 months for $2 a month but that is the ad version. Currently Non-ad hulu is $15 a month, if I'm gonna get hulu, I'm gonna WATCH hulu, over 100 hours in a month for sure (I rotate the services I pay for, and include free months in there, that generally means I pay for 1 month of each service each year).

15$ is what.....even at $2 a month for ad hulu (and it's usually $5 or more), $13 a month for no ads compared to having ads that are at least 15 minutes out of every hour. If you watch 100 hours, that is 25 freaking hours of your time.....over a month...to save at most $13. So you are basically saying that your time is worth 50 cents an hour or less. Mine is def worth more than that.

Meanwhile I create lists of what I want to watch when I get a service again. Hulu currently has The gifted.SirensShits CreakRick and morty, Solar opposites (new season),justified,legion,secret invasion

That is just a few I want to watch on hulu, there are more, along with kinda wanting to rewatch smallville again (been awhile), and a few other shows/comedies that I would casually watch if I had it.

Right now I have both Netflix and HBO Max, I had disney a few months ago. I'm trying to finish the latest season of Umbrella academy and then I really need to try and get into witcher season 2 so I can watch season 3 (Which will be the last season for me). I also need to try and watch the latest season of Stranger things (again, just couldn't get into it) before another one comes out.

There is no comparison to cable though, even if you didn't get free months every year (or in some cases 6 months) for many of them. Even if you PAID for 2 months a year, for each of em, and had 2 at a time always (so you had tons of choices) you are talking about (At most) 30$ a month (at least right now, I think both Hulu and Amazon are gonna go over $15 soon).

Just talking about new content, which often you can binge watch all at once, that is a freak ton of programing you get for $30 a month....which is significantly cheaper than just basic cable with no on demand/DVR etc (heck you can't even get a cable box with it for $30 I don't think).

The only time it's not a good deal is if you are paying for a year, or many months and not watching it (maybe 1 or 2 shows a year and that is it). Yes, you need to cancel/re-sign up, and that is a pain, but you can literally cancel the day you sign up, so it doesn't auto-charge you. Most will give you a free month 6 months later, and in some cases, I have not even signed up and paid again before they offered me ANOTHER free month.

Many (amazon especially) will try and bribe you after the free month with a "cheap offer" to continue as well....often as little as $2 or so, for another month. Then you have 2 months for $2.....(amazon did that last time, but a bunch have done that).

Long story short, I spend less than $200 a year for streaming services but I always have a huge selection of shows to watch, and many to look forward to. Way better than cable ever was for sure, even when they didn't try and freaking price gauge everyone to death (seriously back in 2017 (one year after moving to WA) they wanted to jump our cable bill (no HBO etc) to 220$!!!! That did include internet....but it was basically double what we signed up for. I canceled and never looked back. Cable is a freaking rip off. Streaming services though, you only get ripped off if you are lazy or don't bother canceling it when you are not using it.

GanonsSpirit posted...

You could just... not get all of them? Plus, unlike cable, you can just wait until the shows you want are available and get one for a month, then cancel. The "this is worse than cable" complaints don't hold weight, because the biggest complaint with cable was that you couldn't just buy the channels you wanted, you had to get all of them. Streaming services are channels you can choose to buy.

Depends on your watch habits if you want access to a wide array of things at all times you need at least a few of these. Sure if all you do is chase the hottest new streaming shows/movies you don't, at that point you could subscribe to two at a time or something.

I don't like that they don't let me restream it

Monopoman posted...

Yeah I admit I cut the cord a long time ago so back then I was paying like $100ish for expanded cable without any premium channels like HBO. That was probably back in like 2017 or something like that it appears the cost has gone up big time.

They have and cable schedules have turned to crap Way too many channels that marathon a certain show nonstop

Colonel_Lingus posted...

Yeah this. Hulu has ads?

My main reason for never touching Hulu again was if you had an ad blocker on, they replaced the ads with a message that said "turn off your ad blocker" and extended the ad breaks from 60 seconds to 90 seconds.

That was my "why am I paying for this bullshit?" moment and I haven't gone back since 2011.

It's ok

I'm Not a big movie watcher

Uhm, it is just a part of Disney+ right?

Nichtcrawler-X posted...

Uhm, it is just a part of Disney+ right?

Hulu is just Hulu. Disney does own both, though And you can get a package that has Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN

Nichtcrawler-X posted...

Uhm, it is just a part of Disney+ right?

No

Outside of the US, or at least in Europe Disney+ contains the Hulu content such as Futurama, The Orville, & Solar Opposites under the Star banner.

Welp, I got free Cable and WiFi with the place I live, my sister gave me a 200$ dollar Netflix card she won at a raffle and she lets me piggyback off her Prime account, so all in all I'm set, boo yah.

I don't pay for any streaming services.

will have to see if I can keep using it

it's not available in the UK and it seems they've started blocking some VPN IP addresses. Had to try a few before being able to login recently

I share Hulu with my parents and my parents share Disney with me so my Disney account is set to the US and doesn't have the Hulu content. might need to switch that soon lol

When I had had a free month, I used it to catch up on CBS's Sherlock show, "Elementary." After that I ran out of things to watch on Hulu, but even now they continue to send me offers to return, despite there being nothing worth my time or energy in their catalogue.

trying to convince my parents to move off dish ($200 a month right now, they essentially only watch news channels) and onto some online streaming services, but their internet can't really handle it. thanks at&t

Entity13 posted...

When I had had a free month, I used it to catch up on CBS's Sherlock show, "Elementary." After that I ran out of things to watch on Hulu, but even now they continue to send me offers to return, despite there being nothing worth my time or energy in their catalogue.

Im on a month trial and havent found much to watch that interests methe upcoming price increase doesnt help either

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/7/7/AAHsOgAAEwzd.jpg

With Futurama and What We Do In The Shadows, it definitely earns its keep. On the other hand, it's kind of expensive. And even if you use ad-block on chrome, it gets a little annoying at times.