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88% Of Hulu Plus Content Already Available For Free
$10 doesn't really net you all that much. Yet.
Back in June Hulu announced Hulu Plus, a $10 a month broadband video subscription service that is supposed to allow users to access entire back catalogs of TV shows above and beyond what's available on free Hulu -- albeit still with commercials. According to an analysis of the offering by One Touch Intelligence however, about 88% of the content available through Hulu Plus is already available via vanilla Hulu for free. In other words, of the 28,418 full-length TV episodes available via Hulu, just 3,564 of them are hidden behind a paywall. Obviously Hulu Plus is young, many people are still getting invites, and in game console land it's a Sony PS3 exclusive for the rest of this year, but the firm notes that for now, Hulu's not living up to their "stated value proposition."
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redxii
Mod
join:2001-02-26
Michigan

redxii

Mod

Do you still have to wait 8 days?

Many of the shows I watch they started making new episodes available after 8 days, do Hulu+ users still have to wait 8 days?
alfnoid
MVM
join:2002-02-18

alfnoid

MVM

Re: Do you still have to wait 8 days?

Good question. I'm gonna guess no though.
Hulu has an extra delay from the original source already (in my experience anyway) so doubtful.

redxii
Mod
join:2001-02-26
Michigan
Asus RT-AC3100
Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH2

redxii

Mod

Re: Do you still have to wait 8 days?

I have cable but I don't have a DVR, they had a 1 day delay for the first 3 episodes then 8 days for the rest of the season. If I miss a show I am not going to wait 8 days, I will grab me a version where they don't make money off of ad revenue, if you know what I mean.
alfnoid
MVM
join:2002-02-18

alfnoid

MVM

Re: Do you still have to wait 8 days?

said by redxii:

I have cable but I don't have a DVR,
not exactly on topic, but...
Windows media center is a pretty good DVR. You can get a TV tuner pretty cheap and even if it isn't digital ready you can always have it control the cable box and use one of the analog outputs from said box to record on your computer.

Defiance
Computer Elite
Premium Member
join:2002-09-11
Minocqua, WI

2 recommendations

Defiance to redxii

Premium Member

to redxii
Yes we still have to wait 8 days.. I'm considering canceling my plus also. I just don't feel it's worth it. We pay and still get commercials wtf?

MSauk
MSauk
Premium Member
join:2002-01-17
Sandy, UT

MSauk

Premium Member

720P is Nice

I watch it on my TV using a PC. I like the 720P option.

Not that many more but like I said I think the 720P option is worth it for me

Mchart
First There.
join:2004-01-21
Kaneohe, HI

Mchart

Member

Yep

I was pretty excited until I saw that they really didn't have that much extra content.

Until they have maybe some Plus movies, and way more TV shows - Then i'll buy in.
chsteiger
Premium Member
join:2003-10-03
Pasadena, TX

1 edit

chsteiger

Premium Member

I canceled my subscription

You know if you log in with your Hulu Plus, some of the FREE stuff is no longer available to you? The promise to be able to see all the shows past season is only valid for about 12 different shows.. not all of them. Not worth it at all. The 10.00 a month you give to netflix is such a better value.

The fact that they want to charge 10.00 a month so you can watch contect on your iphone or ipad is not worth it ether...

woodward
XMission Internet
join:2000-12-28
Salt Lake City, UT

woodward

Member

Re: I canceled my subscription

said by chsteiger:

You know if you log in with your Hulu Plus, some of the FREE stuff is no longer available to you?
That is not my experience (although free Hulu content is unavailable on the Plus clients on iPhone or PS3). The desktop application and web site are still fully capable of delivering all the free Hulu content when I'm logged in with my Plus account.
xenophon
join:2007-09-17

xenophon

Member

Tried Plus and canceled

I tried Plus on PS3. Plus has hardly any of the free (they call it Classic) content. It's mostly broadcast OTA TV shows which I don't watch much. The HD is nice and if into the show, having all episodes is nice. But I won't consider Plus again until they get nearly all of their Classic content in HD and with all episodes. I'm satisfied using Hulu Desktop on an HTPC. Looks OK on a large panel.

rideboarder
welcome to the social
Premium Member
join:2003-07-28
Snohomish, WA

rideboarder

Premium Member

Not too useful for me...

I'm not sure what it is with videos on Hulu, but they run extremely choppy on my computer. Youtube HD (720P & 1080P) run flawless, and the same is true for Netflix HD...So as long as their videos run as crappy as they do, I'll never use it. Not everyone has a quadcore cpu with a high end graphics card.

redxii
Mod
join:2001-02-26
Michigan
Asus RT-AC3100
Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH2

2 edits

redxii

Mod

Re: Not too useful for me...

Hulu's player is even more cpu hungry, I had to lower my desktop res to 960x600 to watch videos. The higher your desktop res the more CPU Flash requires to scale it to fullscreen. Fortunately now I have a system that supports the GPU acceleration, and it only benefits those who already have mega fast systems.

Nvidia requires at least the 8000 series and ATI the HD 4000 series for GPU acceleration. Some Intel video cards might work.
axiomatic
join:2006-08-23
Tomball, TX

axiomatic

Member

Hulu's problem...

... is Hulu's management.

The idea of Hulu (prior to Hulu+) was perfectly fine and it did pretty well, right up until Hulu management tried to turn a profit from it.

Were I an advertiser attempting to advertise on Hulu I would be making a vote of "no confidence" in management right about now and looking to get my money back.

fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

fifty nine

Member

Re: Hulu's problem...

said by axiomatic:

... is Hulu's management.

The idea of Hulu (prior to Hulu+) was perfectly fine and it did pretty well, right up until Hulu management tried to turn a profit from it.
Was Hulu supposed to be a non-profit or something? Please elaborate how they were "doing quite well" until Hulu management tried to turn a profit from it.

morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000

morbo

Member

Re: Hulu's problem...

Building a following, integrating commercials, changing the way consumers watch content is "doing quite well" to me. People have to realize this is an experiment. Hulu is working to find a way to make this work for them (they aren't a non-profit) and consumers.

fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

fifty nine

Member

Re: Hulu's problem...

said by morbo:

Building a following, integrating commercials, changing the way consumers watch content is "doing quite well" to me. People have to realize this is an experiment. Hulu is working to find a way to make this work for them (they aren't a non-profit) and consumers.
Just because Hulu was (thought of as) an experiment, it does not mean that the owners shouldn't try to turn a profit from it. Even Google with all of its experimental stuff eventually finds a way to make money from it. People still need to paid, this business doesn't run for free you know.

morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000

morbo

Member

Re: Hulu's problem...

said by fifty nine:

Just because Hulu was (thought of as) an experiment, it does not mean that the owners shouldn't try to turn a profit from it.
Uh, no one said they shouldn't. They are trying to make it work using a subscription model. Time will tell if they can make it appealing enough to the masses.

fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

fifty nine

Member

Re: Hulu's problem...

said by morbo:

said by fifty nine:

Just because Hulu was (thought of as) an experiment, it does not mean that the owners shouldn't try to turn a profit from it.
Uh, no one said they shouldn't.
So just what the hell does this mean?
quote:
The idea of Hulu (prior to Hulu+) was perfectly fine and it did pretty well, right up until Hulu management tried to turn a profit from it.

morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000

morbo

Member

Re: Hulu's problem...

Yeah, I missed that. I also don't take it seriously. Almost everyone understands that businesses have to make a profit to survive.
axiomatic
join:2006-08-23
Tomball, TX

1 edit

axiomatic to fifty nine

Member

to fifty nine
Morbo above me here has it right. Hulu had built a following which they are now irritating.

fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

fifty nine

Member

Re: Hulu's problem...

said by axiomatic:

Morbo above me here has it right. Hulu had built a following which they are now irritating.
I agree that people will be upset when they are asked to pay for something, but economic reality is that producing television or movies has a real cost attached to it.

Many sites on the web were free and ad free in the early days, but are now running advertising or charging for content. They lose some but at the same time the website now generates revenue which is not a bad thing for shareholders.

C_9084
Kill The Socialists
Premium Member
join:2001-03-19

C_9084 to axiomatic

Premium Member

to axiomatic
said by axiomatic:

Morbo above me here has it right. Hulu had built a following which they are now irritating.
who gives a flying fuck about a following if it cant be monetized

kieranmullen
Premium Member
join:2005-12-12
Portland, OR

kieranmullen

Premium Member

Re: Hulu's problem...

The more money they make the more deals, shows and features they can offer DUH
said by C_9084:

said by axiomatic:

Morbo above me here has it right. Hulu had built a following which they are now irritating.
who gives a flying fuck about a following if it cant be monetized

woodward
XMission Internet
join:2000-12-28
Salt Lake City, UT

1 edit

woodward

Member

True, but...

This is all true, but it overlooks three critical points.

1) Plus licensing is for delivery outside the computer desktop. Hulu does not approve, and does not license, its content on anything but a computer screen. Plus content can be natively delivered straight to an HD television. The content owners are quite uptight about the distinction

2) Plus allows for mobility. You may not watch Hulu content on an iPhone, for example. At least, not through any legal means (I suspect that PlayOn's days offering Hulu are numbered, as were Boxee's -- although I would prefer that Hulu would instead take the direction of innovating until the competition is irrelevant, rather than legal recourses)

3) This is a beta product, not yet freely available to the public. You can't judge the retail service yet as we don't know what it will carry. The beta is pretty much just a test of the new delivery mechanisms, with some additional "premium" content to attract testers.

ps I'm not evangelizing, just sharing my experiences, which are thus far mixed, but largely positive for something so innovative. I'm also already a big fan of Netflix's new iPhone app, which is superior in many ways, but falls short in others.
gigante
Premium Member
join:2000-06-30
Anchorage, AK

gigante

Premium Member

Re: True, but...

Thank goodness for your "common sense" response. Most responses here are nonsensical. It's naive to demand that something remain free for the sake of not "irritating" people. Hulu+ will be successful with or without the early adopters. Don't begrudge them to try and turn more of a profit in these crap economic times.

Bill Neilson
Premium Member
join:2009-07-08
Alexandria, VA

Bill Neilson

Premium Member

Tried and cancelled like others

The ADS bugged me to no end. I have Netflix which offers a better selection AND no ads

Some mention TV with Ads and I fail to see why I would care about that when comparing Netflix to Hulu. If I am paying money for Hulu, I do not want ads....period. I have no issue with their ads when dealing with Hulu for free
longgone
join:2000-12-30
Culloden, WV

longgone

Member

Re: Tried and cancelled like others

I'm definitely with you about the Adverts on their Paid Service.

Beta Plus could be free, at least until they get more content, and one has to wait for maybe a few weeks for an invite Code to activate the paid subscription for the streaming of the Hulu Plus TV AP.

Hulu was cool, but now I do really wish them well.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned) to Bill Neilson

Member

to Bill Neilson
said by Bill Neilson:

The ADS bugged me to no end. I have Netflix which offers a better selection AND no ads

Some mention TV with Ads and I fail to see why I would care about that when comparing Netflix to Hulu. If I am paying money for Hulu, I do not want ads....period. I have no issue with their ads when dealing with Hulu for free
You don't pay for cable? Netflix and Hulu are apples and oranges anyways. I'm not sure why they are even compared.

Netflix=Movies. Hulu=TV. Might as well compare Netflix with Game Fly.

TechyDad
Premium Member
join:2001-07-13
USA

TechyDad

Premium Member

Re: Tried and cancelled like others

Actually, Netflix is Movies & TV. I stream TV shows via my Roku box from Netflix on a near-daily basis.

YogiYahooeys
join:2004-08-17
Evansville, IN

YogiYahooeys to 88615298

Member

to 88615298
said by 88615298:

said by Bill Neilson:

The ADS bugged me to no end. I have Netflix which offers a better selection AND no ads

Some mention TV with Ads and I fail to see why I would care about that when comparing Netflix to Hulu. If I am paying money for Hulu, I do not want ads....period. I have no issue with their ads when dealing with Hulu for free
You don't pay for cable? Netflix and Hulu are apples and oranges anyways. I'm not sure why they are even compared.

Netflix=Movies. Hulu=TV. Might as well compare Netflix with Game Fly.
Netflix may not have all of the latest tv series, but the statement "Netflix=Movies" is wholly inaccurate. Right now, I'm using Netflix to watch 30 Rock, Newsradio, X-Files, Futurama, Mythbusters, Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes, Rocky And Bullwinkle, Soap, Columbo, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and several others. And that's just what I'm watching...
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

Re: Tried and cancelled like others

said by YogiYahooeys:

said by 88615298:

said by Bill Neilson:

The ADS bugged me to no end. I have Netflix which offers a better selection AND no ads

Some mention TV with Ads and I fail to see why I would care about that when comparing Netflix to Hulu. If I am paying money for Hulu, I do not want ads....period. I have no issue with their ads when dealing with Hulu for free
You don't pay for cable? Netflix and Hulu are apples and oranges anyways. I'm not sure why they are even compared.

Netflix=Movies. Hulu=TV. Might as well compare Netflix with Game Fly.
Netflix may not have all of the latest tv series, but the statement "Netflix=Movies" is wholly inaccurate. Right now, I'm using Netflix to watch 30 Rock, Newsradio, X-Files, Futurama, Mythbusters, Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes, Rocky And Bullwinkle, Soap, Columbo, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and several others. And that's just what I'm watching...
It's called GIST appearantly you don't get it.

YogiYahooeys
join:2004-08-17
Evansville, IN

YogiYahooeys

Member

Re: Tried and cancelled like others

said by 88615298:

It's called GIST appearantly you don't get it.
Not gist, ridiculous exaggeration. I get it fine.

fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

fifty nine to YogiYahooeys

Member

to YogiYahooeys
said by YogiYahooeys:

Netflix may not have all of the latest tv series, but the statement "Netflix=Movies" is wholly inaccurate. Right now, I'm using Netflix to watch 30 Rock, Newsradio, X-Files, Futurama, Mythbusters, Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes, Rocky And Bullwinkle, Soap, Columbo, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and several others. And that's just what I'm watching...
Netflix is like the video store. They have movies and a few TV shows which made it to DVD.

Hulu has TV shows which aired recently and a few movies which made it to TV.

Get it? Hulu is primarily about TV and stuff you'll find on the networks. Netflix is primarily about movies and other content you'd find in a video store.

Hulu isn't allowed to cannibalize the revenue stream of its content providers (Fox, NBC, ABC and others). Netflix isn't allowed to cannibalize new release DVD sales, at least not as much as people would like them to.

TechyDad
Premium Member
join:2001-07-13
USA

TechyDad

Premium Member

Re: Tried and cancelled like others

said by fifty nine:

Netflix is like the video store. They have movies and a few TV shows which made it to DVD.
That's not completely accurate. During the spring, I was able to watch Heroes: Season 4 episodes a few days after they broadcast. I know there were other shows for which this was true. It's all in the licensing deals. If Netflix has them, they'll push out the streaming access (and they've been quite aggressive in obtaining licensing).

Bill Neilson
Premium Member
join:2009-07-08
Alexandria, VA

Bill Neilson to fifty nine

Premium Member

to fifty nine
said by fifty nine:

said by YogiYahooeys:

Netflix may not have all of the latest tv series, but the statement "Netflix=Movies" is wholly inaccurate. Right now, I'm using Netflix to watch 30 Rock, Newsradio, X-Files, Futurama, Mythbusters, Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes, Rocky And Bullwinkle, Soap, Columbo, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and several others. And that's just what I'm watching...
Netflix is like the video store. They have movies and a few TV shows which made it to DVD.

Hulu has TV shows which aired recently and a few movies which made it to TV.

Get it? Hulu is primarily about TV and stuff you'll find on the networks. Netflix is primarily about movies and other content you'd find in a video store.

Hulu isn't allowed to cannibalize the revenue stream of its content providers (Fox, NBC, ABC and others). Netflix isn't allowed to cannibalize new release DVD sales, at least not as much as people would like them to.
My god, as Jason just said....Netflix has put shows on relatively quickly AND their TV selection is growing leaps and bounds

Thus, trying to continue to state that Netflix = Movies is dead wrong

Goodness

fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

fifty nine to Bill Neilson

Member

to Bill Neilson
said by Bill Neilson:

If I am paying money for Hulu, I do not want ads....period. I have no issue with their ads when dealing with Hulu for free
Then don't pay for Hulu. No one is putting a gun to your head. Simple.

Bill Neilson
Premium Member
join:2009-07-08
Alexandria, VA

Bill Neilson

Premium Member

Re: Tried and cancelled like others

said by fifty nine:

said by Bill Neilson:

If I am paying money for Hulu, I do not want ads....period. I have no issue with their ads when dealing with Hulu for free
Then don't pay for Hulu. No one is putting a gun to your head. Simple.
I am not anymore. Was that not clear enough?
chimera4
join:2009-06-09
Washington, DC

chimera4

Member

Gave it a Shot

I gave Hulu+ a shot and paid for a month of the beta. It was worthelss. All of the content I wanted was available for free, the agent that they have for Samsung TV's is painful and a large portion of the catalog I do watch (which are all available for free) was not even available on the TV at all meaning I was paying for absolutely nothing. What a waste.

•••
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

1 recommendation

88615298 (banned)

Member

Karl Karl Karl

Ok first of all you act like the content they have is all the content they are going ot have. Did it even occur to you that there might be more exclusive content coming? Well of course not. Do you mention that you only get 720p with Hulu plus? Well of course not. Did you mention you can only access Hulu on your TV, blu-ray player, game console or mobile phone via Hulu Plus? Well no. Why bother with FACTS when a good rant will do.

JeffT
@tguyconsulting.com

JeffT

Anon

Re: Karl Karl Karl

said by 88615298:

Did you mention you can only access Hulu on your TV, blu-ray player, game console or mobile phone via Hulu Plus? Well no. Why bother with FACTS when a good rant will do.
Hulu Desktop works just fine via my Media Center/TV =D

I haven't tried from my mobile phone, but I can access the hulu.com website from it, I'm assuming I could play videos as well
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

Re: Karl Karl Karl

said by JeffT :

said by 88615298:

Did you mention you can only access Hulu on your TV, blu-ray player, game console or mobile phone via Hulu Plus? Well no. Why bother with FACTS when a good rant will do.
Hulu Desktop works just fine via my Media Center/TV =D
You're not getting 720p and not everyone wants to hook their PC/laptop up to the TV.
I haven't tried from my mobile phone, but I can access the hulu.com website from it, I'm assuming I could play videos as well
Nope you can't. Try playing a video form hulu on the PS3 browser. Hulu prevents playing videos from "unauthorized" browsers.

HotRodFoto
Premium Member
join:2003-04-19
Denver, CO

HotRodFoto

Premium Member

Hulu...dead in a year

In this day and age, when the economy is in the tanker, websites like »wwitv.com exist and there is a boatload of freeware video capture software available, I give Hulu a year and they are toast. People won't pay for what they can get for free, simple as that.

••••••••

AB57
Premium Member
join:2006-04-04
equatorial

1 edit

AB57

Premium Member

See if there's anything good on . . . .

said by Karl Bode:

. . of the 28,418 full-length TV episodes available via Hulu, just 3,564 of them are hidden behind a paywall.
3,564 behind a paywall, and still nothing on.


theTavern
@verizon.net

theTavern

Anon

Why do they block ABC - or is it ABC?

For some reason HULU/ABC seems to think I am out of the country. Which means many, (perhaps most?) Verizon customers can't watch ABC on HULU so that is another chunk or revenue they will not get, at least from me. No iPad, no laptop, no anything wireless will show even though they can see my router just as DSLreports can see it. I hope no one has credit card problems also because they have no phone number and every response to support gets a canned reply regardless of subject.

••••

dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

dvd536

Premium Member

Pay?

with commercials still in? I DON'T THINK SO!
decifal7
join:2007-03-10
Bon Aqua, TN

decifal7

Member

another loss

Yet another service that will be completely ruined before I ever get broadband :-/