Hulu is now subscription only

Binktopia · Post by **Binktopia** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 1:52 pm

Went to Hulu's website and was greeted with a new home-screen where they give you the sales pitch.

7.99 for unlimited shows with commercials.

11.99 with no commercials.

Dunno if I will pull the trigger, but it's hardly surprising to me that they would make this move.

Moliere · Post by **Moliere** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 2:10 pm

I can't imagine there is enough exclusive content to cause me to want Netflix and Hulu. And the idea of paying more to avoid commercials is lame. You're already getting a subscription fee, stop trying to make me pay to watch commercials too. This isn't cable TV.

Ralph-Wiggum · Post by **Ralph-Wiggum** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 2:13 pm

I'm still showing that I can watch certain shows for free. I think you have to wait 8 (?) days after it aired before you can watch it without a subscription, though.

Moliere · Post by **Moliere** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 2:16 pm

Ralph-Wiggum wrote:I'm still showing that I can watch certain shows for free. I think you have to wait 8 (?) days after it aired before you can watch it without a subscription, though.

I don't understand this logic. It's like they want people to BitTorrent episodes.

Ralph-Wiggum · Post by **Ralph-Wiggum** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 2:32 pm

It's more that they want people to pay for Hulu subscriptions.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 2:52 pm

Moliere wrote:
Ralph-Wiggum wrote:I'm still showing that I can watch certain shows for free. I think you have to wait 8 (?) days after it aired before you can watch it without a subscription, though.
I don't understand this logic. It's like they want people to BitTorrent episodes.

So do cable providers and movie theaters, using your logic.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 2:54 pm

Ralph-Wiggum wrote:It's more that they want people to pay for Hulu subscriptions.

And I'm guessing their ability to license content is predicated on the perception that they're not giving away content for free. Studios hate that.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 2:58 pm

I like my hulu and netflix combo. I even pay the extra 4 bucks a month to get commercial free (Although I may drop that as the commercials never really bothered me. They're usually only a couple of minutes per 30 minute episode.).

I still pay significantly less for the content I get than what I paid when I was with Comcast.

gbasden · Post by **gbasden** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 2:59 pm

Moliere wrote:I can't imagine there is enough exclusive content to cause me to want Netflix and Hulu. And the idea of paying more to avoid commercials is lame. You're already getting a subscription fee, stop trying to make me pay to watch commercials too. This isn't cable TV.

I've found that there are a lot of shows I want that are on Hulu and aren't on Netflix. But that may be my particular interests in shows. I'm also really, really enjoying the ability to not be subjected to their commercials. I happily paid the extra few bucks. Then again, since I dropped TV service, Hulu, Amazon and Netflix are how I get all my content. ~$20 for TV per month is ok in my book.

gameoverman · Post by **gameoverman** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 3:08 pm

Smoove_B wrote:
Ralph-Wiggum wrote:It's more that they want people to pay for Hulu subscriptions.
And I'm guessing their ability to license content is predicated on the perception that they're not giving away content for free. Studios hate that.

This gives me hope that with the passage of time, things will change.

I'm sure many deals between studios/networks/providers/theaters/advertisers are for years. Maybe HBO can't offer what viewers want because they have pre-existing contracts in place that prevent that. But someday those contracts will run out and all that stuff will be up for negotiation.

When that happens I hope they'll remember that viewers can and will get what they want, the content producers and providers can either get with the program and profit from it or watch as they become irrelevant.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 3:13 pm

gameoverman wrote:
Smoove_B wrote:
Ralph-Wiggum wrote:It's more that they want people to pay for Hulu subscriptions.
And I'm guessing their ability to license content is predicated on the perception that they're not giving away content for free. Studios hate that.
This gives me hope that with the passage of time, things will change.

I'm pretty sure most folks will still hate working for free in the future.

gilraen · Post by **gilraen** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 3:15 pm

hepcat wrote: So do cable providers and movie theaters, using your logic.

If the show airs on the OTA channels, it should be available for free, with commercials, at least for a limited time after the episode aired. Most network websites (CBS, ABC, etc.) already let you do that but most of those websites are at best confusing to navigate and at worst, the commercial breaks are poorly coded, so they tend to crash the browser or timeout, and then you have to start over.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 3:20 pm

gilraen wrote:
hepcat wrote: So do cable providers and movie theaters, using your logic.
If the show airs on the OTA channels, it should be available for free, with commercials, at least for a limited time after the episode aired. Most network websites (CBS, ABC, etc.) already let you do that but most of those websites are at best confusing to navigate and at worst, the commercial breaks are poorly coded, so they tend to crash the browser or timeout, and then you have to start over.

Your cable company charges you to watch content you can view over the air too. If you want free, then get an antenna and watch them OTA. Hulu provides a service in that they they allow you to watch these shows at your convenience. They're not a public service. They are a business.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 3:21 pm

gilraen wrote: they tend to crash the browser or timeout, and then you have to start over.

Oh my god, do they ever for basic cable. And when you jump around trying to avoid starting over, they run you through like three sets of commercials, and then often as not, crash again. USA have been the worst for me. AMC a close second. I've found OTA to actually be better than basic cable streaming.

This is tow reasons among several that I hate streaming. The other big one for me is that at 2 up/2 down, streaming is for shit. I could upgrade my internet but then I quickly get to the point where saving money to skip cable isn't happening.

I keep watching, though. The Playstation Vue a la carte television is getting close, or would be if it were in my market.

gbasden · Post by **gbasden** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 5:28 pm

LordMortis wrote:
This is tow reasons among several that I hate streaming. The other big one for me is that at 2 up/2 down, streaming is for shit. I could upgrade my internet but then I quickly get to the point where saving money to skip cable isn't happening.

At 2 up/2down, you make Smoove's connection look downright speedy. I have no idea how you can live with that. I'm currently at 100down/100up, and at $60/mo + $20 for Hulu and Netflix I'm still ahead of where I was with Dish *and* I can download a 20gb Steam game in about 15 minutes or less.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 6:15 pm

gbasden wrote:I'm currently at 100down/100up, and at $60/mo

Not an option

2up/2down is about $30 a month as part of cable/Internet bundle that costs about $100 a month in total.

I could go up to about 10 up/50 down for about $60 a month as part of of a bundle but I don't really need 50/10 as long as I have cable. If I ditch cable then I find myself paying more than $40 a month for value added services to replace cable. And that's why I haven't yet cut the cord. But I'm close.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 6:23 pm

Yeah, exactly. I would love to tell DirecTV to get bent and just rely on services like HBO GO, Hulu, Netflix and my Amazon Prime account to deliver me entertainment for a fraction of the cost. However, my internet speeds make it completely impossible. And I'm guessing part of the reason CenturyLink isn't interested in upgrading my service is because there's nothing in it for them to do so as they have no content to provide to me.

I should probably engage in the ceremonial asking of speed upgrade. It's been a good 6+ months since my last query.

Post by **FishPants** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 7:25 pm

For 55/10 (unlimited bandwidth, *mostly) is $70 a month for me (250/10 is $100 a month). Prices are exorbitant in Canada for Internet IMO.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 7:36 pm

That's because everyone's too polite to ask them to stop ripping them off. Canada, you need to man up!

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 9:12 am

Smoove_B wrote:Yeah, exactly. I would love to tell DirecTV to get bent and just rely on services like HBO GO, Hulu, Netflix and my Amazon Prime account to deliver me entertainment for a fraction of the cost. However, my internet speeds make it completely impossible. And I'm guessing part of the reason CenturyLink isn't interested in upgrading my service is because there's nothing in it for them to do so as they have no content to provide to me.

I should probably engage in the ceremonial asking of speed upgrade. It's been a good 6+ months since my last query.

I was in a hotel last week and the free internet was only 5 down (I could have paid $10/day to get 25 down). It was unbearable for video.

Back on topic - is the HuluPlus option with no commercials really no commercials? I thought I read somewhere that they still made you watch a pre-roll and end-roll.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 9:47 am

There's a quick, 3 second stinger for Hulu at the beginning of the majority of the shows, but zero commercials throughout the rest. However, I have noticed that they have a disclaimer for some shows on ABC (specifically Marvel: Agents of Shield) warning viewers that the owners of the show have mandated that they include a bumper at the beginning and end of the show.

Other channels may do it for their more popular shows, but I've not seen it with anything but AoS.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 10:24 am

Well that kind of stinks as that is one I am interested in. Thanks for the info, though! I can probably put up with it as long as the kids shows are commercial free.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 10:38 am

It's hardly a deal breaker for me. The bumper at the beginning is about 30 seconds long. And who watches a show after the credits roll?

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 10:42 am

hepcat wrote:It's hardly a deal breaker for me. The bumper at the beginning is about 30 seconds long. And who watches a show after the credits roll?

Oh - oh!!!! ME!!!! I'm a big fan of the Third Key Grip on the Second Unit.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 10:48 am

You'll always be my Best Boy.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 10:52 am

You're too kind.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Aug 08, 2016 11:11 am

Yahoo only:

Hulu, the service co-owned by many of the major broadcasters, announced that it will be eliminating its free tier, moving to a subscription-only model. At the same time, Yahoo announced a new streaming service, "Yahoo View," which "features" Hulu, and will let viewers see the five most recent episodes of the big broadcast shows for free. So consumers will still have largely the same set of choices, just in different places, and paid for by a different set of corporate backers.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Aug 08, 2016 11:27 am

Good grief, I hope they don't use the atrocious Yahoo Screen interface. That was a friggin' fiasco. Although I'm sure they'll stick with the regular Hulu interface.

I subscribe and I love it. I even pay the extra few bucks a month to cut out commercials. The only downside is that they don't have 5.1 sound.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed Jan 23, 2019 3:11 pm

Price changes

Hulu just announced that it will lower the price of its base, ad-supported subscription plan to $5.99 per month — down from the current $7.99 — beginning on February 26th. Hulu has offered its service at $5.99 previously on a promotional basis, and it clearly makes enough of a difference at pulling in subscribers to justify a price drop for the standard rate. In case you were concerned, customers will not see an increase in ad volume because of the reduced pricing. The $11.99-per-month “no commercials” plan will stay at its current price, as will the $12.99 Hulu/Spotify combo subscription, which Spotify handles billing for.
...
Hulu does have one price hike of its own: the company is increasing the cost of its Hulu with Live TV service, which will jump to $44.99 instead of the current $39.99. As a result, the gulf between the standard service and Hulu’s internet TV offering is growing wider and a dollar shy of $40. The justification for the uptick in price is an increased channel selection — Hulu reached an agreement with Discovery, Inc. in September — and improvements to reliability and usability of the live TV experience. But this is also just the hard reality of these streaming TV services: they face the same hurdles as cable providers in reaching deals with networks and broadcast affiliates, and the major ones are all money losers. It’s inevitable that prices will continue to climb. You've also got to factor in that Hulu with Live TV includes the full on-demand product, which is relatively unique as these services go.

In an attempt to balance out the higher subscription charge, Hulu is lowering its fees for the live TV service’s optional add-ons: both the enhanced DVR and expanded multiscreen viewing packages are dropping to $9.99 from $14.99. The DVR option gives customers more storage (200 hours versus 50 hours for standard live TV subscribers) and allows them to fast-forward through commercials in DVR’d content.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Jan 23, 2019 3:31 pm

And the audio is still 2.0 on Roku. There are some 5.1 audio output on Hulu original shows and a few others, but only on a select group of platforms (Xbox One, FireTV, etc.).

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Wed Jan 23, 2019 4:12 pm

I remember being in the Hulu beta when no one had heard of it or what it was.

Sometime for the holidays last year...might have been Nov or Dec I found Hulu for .99 a month for 12 months. Told the wife about it and she got it. I kept it at that price. Im sad she wont get to watch it or see and do so many other things. But Im glad I found it for her and she got a little use out of it.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Wed Jan 23, 2019 6:13 pm

I subscribe to the premium and use it almost as much as Netflix.

Netflix is when I want to watch something I didn't know I wanted to watch, and Hulu is when I want to watch something I did know that I wanted to watch.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed Jan 23, 2019 6:14 pm

I might actually be able to finish Cowboy Bebop now that I have a subscription.

Jaymon · Post by **Jaymon** » Wed Jan 23, 2019 7:20 pm

i tried the hulu live tv for one month. it lasted right up until they blacked out the football game, and 10 minutes later I was subscribed to youtube.tv and watched the game .

I do enjoy the no-commercials option for the regular hulu, its totally worth it for that extra coupe of dollars a month to me.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Sat Mar 23, 2019 3:16 pm

I just found Community on Hulu. I'm the episodes in and it's great. Hulu's commercial breaks, though, are the worst. Too many and too long.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Sat Mar 23, 2019 3:41 pm

stessier wrote: ↑Sat Mar 23, 2019 3:16 pm I just found Community on Hulu. I'm the episodes in and it's great.

We know.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Tue May 14, 2019 10:26 am

Disney now has full control of Hulu.

Through at least 2024, NBC shows will continue to stream through Hulu as part of the agreement.

wonderpug · Post by **wonderpug** » Tue May 14, 2019 11:25 am

stessier wrote: ↑Tue May 14, 2019 10:26 am Disney now has full control of Hulu.

How will the emperor maintain control without the bureaucracy?

Drazzil · Post by **Drazzil** » Tue May 14, 2019 12:08 pm

stessier wrote: ↑Tue May 14, 2019 10:26 am Disney now has full control of Hulu.

Through at least 2024, NBC shows will continue to stream through Hulu as part of the agreement.

Not only has Disney bought Hulu but it seems that NBC is starting its own streaming service.

I'm glad that as streaming continues to fragment and get more expensive that we will always have piracy.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Tue May 14, 2019 12:53 pm

There's also the option to subscribe for a month, binge what you want, and then move to a new service. Rinse and Repeat. All completely legal.