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Any Hulu Plus users out there?

I got it for this month with my PS3 to try it out and see what it's like. They have near 100 one hour episodes of Alfred Hitchcock presents, which in my opinion, that alone makes it worth it.

They don't have a favorite of mine, NCIS, or any CBS programming to date. So stuff is still missing. They have some recent shows on that I didn't give a chance before so I was able to able to watch them and found out they're pretty good shows.

The ads don't bother me at all, they're too quick. Just a nice 30 sec break if you ask me. I can make a sandwich or grab a root beer. Yes, I know I can pause it ;).

Just another option, with Netflix. Certainly no cable or satellite replacement like I've heard others mentioned. Not without live sports. And if they added a few more shows that are in reruns, like Friends and Seinfeld would be a nice option.

There is no commitment. So if I don't like it after a month -- bye bye. The quality is really good. Obviously, older shows won't have full on HD.
 
I just subscribed to Hulu Plus and am very disappointed to find out due to licensing constraints, shows on SyFy Channel can't be played on my iPad. I was hoping to watch Eureka and Haven on my iPad but still have to go to my Mac to watch them on HuLu. Strange you have to pay $10/month but you don't get the same shows that are free on your desktop. I'll probably cancel the service.
 
wolfpackfan said:
I just subscribed to Hulu Plus and am very disappointed to find out due to licensing constraints, shows on SyFy Channel can't be played on my iPad. I was hoping to watch Eureka and Haven on my iPad but still have to go to my Mac to watch them on HuLu. Strange you have to pay $10/month but you don't get the same shows that are free on your desktop. I'll probably cancel the service.
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I'm in the same boat. I was prepared for the ads but not quite prepared for the limited selection.
I won't be renewing.
 
ohaithar said:
I personally think it's damn stupid to pay $10 for that service.
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Me too but I had to try it. It's great at what it does but ads + limited content is a rip off.
 
I'm going to cancel. None of the content I regularly watch on Hulu is available on Plus. The selection is extremely disappointing.

Maybe I'll re-up when they get it working on the 360 and get more content. I'm not going to pay for Playstation Plus.
 
I think it's great. Very convenient, quality is good, tons of shows. Don't have to worry about your ****** DVR not recording for some unknown reason.

I'll gladly pay $10 as long as there are shows/seasons I haven't seen... Parks and Rec, 30 Rock, etc.

The ads don't bother me too much because they're short. 30 to 60 seconds max.
 
Well right now I have both Netflix and Hulu Plus but plan to cancel Hulu before my next charge occurs. Netflix just has a much better selection of shows that I like to watch. If Hulu had SyFy Channel and BBC America it might be different.
 
I like it more and more. Been about 3 weeks now and they have some older content I really like, newer content I never watched before -- shows that I now like (Arrested Development for example - awesome show ;)). The ads are really short. One series I'm watching, an hour show I get like 2 minutes of ads and that's it. For an hour, thats golden. Other shows dont get much more if at all.

CBS isn't there, I have a couple shows I like with them so that's a bummer. But they have some TV that Netflix doesn't have so it works out for me.

Overall, for 10 bucks, it's a nice deal. I can watch it in the den or on my couch where there is no TV.

Not for everyone. Just another option to get shows you can't get elsewhere.

Now we need a app that does live sports ;).
 
andrew upstairs said:
I'm going to cancel. None of the content I regularly watch on Hulu is available on Plus. The selection is extremely disappointing.

Maybe I'll re-up when they get it working on the 360 and get more content. I'm not going to pay for Playstation Plus.
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I Heard once they get out of beta or trial or whatever it is now, a PS Plus prescription won't be required. Soon I believe.
 
Well I guess my biggest concern is the fact you don't get the same content that you do with the regular Hulu which is free. Just doesn't make sense to me. Anyway, I'm giving it a try for one month but have put Sept. 23rd on my calendar to make sure I cancel before the next charge goes through. I will eventually probably cancel Netflix after I watch all the shows I want to watch. Hopefully CBS will come out with a lot of content this Fall for the iPad. I've about given up on NBC.
 
Amazing Iceman said:
It would be nice to setup a poll for this. Or at least hear everyone's opinion on what's their choice. :D
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Definitely netflix! I've been subscribing to netflix since before they even offered streaming and even if they didn't offer streaming, I would still subscribe to the service for the DVDs. The streaming is just like...extra goodness for no more money :)
 
I've had it for a month now, love it. I just don't have enough time in the day to fully use it.
 
ohaithar said:
That's the thing that turned me off, was the ads, If I pay for a service, I expect the ads to go away
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Laughter OL.

The number of people complaining about how Hulu Plus costs money is high enough that at least some of them are people who pay $70 a month for cable that includes 9 times as many ads per hour of programming.

I can get Hulu Plus, an Apple TV, an iPad, and HD downloads of the shows I watch most from iTunes (so I can keep them/watch them anywhere) for less than I pay for the same content on cable AND I split the cost for cable with my roommate.

and yes, that means i can buy a new iPad and Apple TV *EVERY YEAR* and still save money.

The downside is live sports. espn360 is pretty nifty for mobile watching, but doesn't work on iPhone/iPad, and it's only that network, so if the sporting event is on something else, I'd be SOL. HBO is also being a bunch of ******s and refusing to let non-cable subscribers get access to content. If, hypothetically, I only wanted to watch HBO and nothing else I'd first have to pay $40+ for the most basic cable and then $20 more for HBO. Sorry, HBO is awesome but not $60/month awesome.
 
cmvsm said:
Hulu Plus can be as polished as it wants to be. $10 per month for content where I still have to deal with ads is ridiculous. They want their cake and eat it too. Make it free and I'll deal with the ads. Charge me $10 a month and keep the ads away....but not both.

They can keep it.
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+1 almost got it till I realized $10 bucks with ads. Not good.
 
rritterson said:
Laughter OL.

The number of people complaining about how Hulu Plus costs money is high enough that at least some of them are people who pay $70 a month for cable that includes 9 times as many ads per hour of programming.

I can get Hulu Plus, an Apple TV, an iPad, and HD downloads of the shows I watch most from iTunes (so I can keep them/watch them anywhere) for less than I pay for the same content on cable AND I split the cost for cable with my roommate.

and yes, that means i can buy a new iPad and Apple TV *EVERY YEAR* and still save money.

The downside is live sports. espn360 is pretty nifty for mobile watching, but doesn't work on iPhone/iPad, and it's only that network, so if the sporting event is on something else, I'd be SOL. HBO is also being a bunch of ******s and refusing to let non-cable subscribers get access to content. If, hypothetically, I only wanted to watch HBO and nothing else I'd first have to pay $40+ for the most basic cable and then $20 more for HBO. Sorry, HBO is awesome but not $60/month awesome.
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The ads are minimal, 2 minutes for an hour show or thereabouts. But having huluplus, netflix - I have both, apple tv and anything else you can conjure up in no way replaces cable/satellite, not even close. Live news and sports makes it that way. And it's still better watching a show on TV than streaming a day or so after it broadcast.

I guess if you dont watch news pogramming or care about live sports and a plethora of channels that no way huluplus can match than cool you save money. And sorry but espn 3 is not a replacement.

And I agree HBO is too expensive. That's the way I cut down, no HBO or showtime, cinemax and the like. Too expensive and you don't get much.

So for now, dish network, netflix and huluplus works well together.

Ps: I think the ads get a little blown out of proportion. And maybe I'm missing it but I seem to get much more from huluplus than the free hulu online. Hulu online doesn't seem to have as much programming.
 
As mentioned by others, the two channels I'm interested in are Sci-Fi and BBC and Hulu Plus doesn't give them so I will stick with Netflix.
 
Bad Precedent

What those of you who say "nothing is free" are missing is that in the entire history of broadcast and cable television there have been two basic models of revenue generation:

  1. No charge for the channel, but you have to watch ads
  2. Pay extra for the channel (e.g. HBO), no ads

The ABC player on the iPad takes the 1st approach, no problem. iTunes takes the second approach when you buy a television show, no problem.

Hulu Plus is trying to set a new precedent that combines both methods of revenue generation. They want you to pay for their "channel," but they are also interrupting your shows with ads! Would you sit back and let Ford interrupt The Sopranos to sell you a car?

I hope Hulu Plus fails so they get the idea that they cannot double dip the consumer to line their pockets. Pick one method and stick to it. If Hulu Plus takes off, we'll see ads everywhere even when you pay extra. Yuck!
 
NebulaClash said:
What those of you who say "nothing is free" are missing is that in the entire history of broadcast and cable television there have been two basic models of revenue generation:

  1. No charge for the channel, but you have to watch ads
  2. Pay extra for the channel (e.g. HBO), no ads
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Hmm, then tell me, which model does TNT, USA, TBS, Bravo, MTV, VH1, ESPN, MSNBC, CNN, etc, etc use?
 
Mitchrapp said:
I guess if you dont watch news pogramming or care about live sports and a plethora of channels that no way huluplus can match than cool you save money. And sorry but espn 3 is not a replacement.
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From my perspective, web articles offer better analysis, and twitter offers faster breaking news than the TV screen does. TV news networks are slowly becoming 100% opinion and most frequently report on stuff I care nothing about. A well designed RSS reader and curated list of feeds will give you exactly the news you want as fast as you can get it, even if you want both live breaking news and opinion/analysis. TV can't hold a candle.

In order to get Comcast to give me AMC and ESPN I have to pay for 500 channels I don't watch, including 10 or more shopping channels (think about that-- I get to pay to have channels that are basically 100% ads!), 30 or more spanish-only channels, and about 200 other channels of pure crap. For at least 1000 people each channel they offer is important, but for no single person is every channel important. Thus, no matter what you do, you have to pay money to get stuff you don't want, and you are forced to still pay to watch ads with the stuff you do want to see.

If comcast would let me pay $3 a month per channel for the specific channels I wanted and nothing else, I wouldn't even consider switching. Instead, I pay $80 a month to watch: 1. network TV I can get in HD with a $5 antenna, 2. 2-3 cable channels I watch occasionally, and 3. live sports. I'd prefer to get 1+2 for about $15 a month from hulu and iTunes and spend the rest of the $65 on many many pitchers of beer at the local sports bar when the game is on.
 
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