Hulu+

[HMI]

I considered Hulu+ a long time ago, and decided against it because I dont want to pay for advertising. Does Hulu+ still force their paying customers to sit through ads?

Please let me know. Thanks.

[BenGieCruz]

Yes!

[WesCole]

Originally Posted by HMI

I considered Hulu+ a long time ago, and decided against it because I dont want to pay for advertising. Does Hulu+ still force their paying customers to sit through ads?

Please let me know. Thanks.

I feel the same way. I have a Netflix subscription, but I won't pay for a streaming service that has ads. Hulu+ does still have ads.

[linds15]

it does still have adds, but they are not nearly as long as on normal tv. sometime only 15 seconds, sometimes up to 90 i believe

[mentaluproar]

I have Hulu and the ads aren't that bad. My issue is the lack of selection. The service is otherwise great!

[institute]

So...

Ads are bad
Selection is wanting

But otherwise its good?

Could you please discuss what might be included in this otherwise?

[iHailCarlo]

Agreed, I cut it because it has ads, and Im paying. Not Cool, I will just stick to Netflix.

[Bozley0621]

For me, I don't mind the ads. I consider them as the nature of the beast of watching tv, the same as I don't mind watching commercials on OTA tv. I consider the $7.99 fee to be our DVR fee, which is what Hulu+ really is for us. IMO, Hulu and Networks that broadcast over the air don't show nearly as many commercials as cable channels and they aren't nearly as lengthy. I also appreciate the count down.

[jsm4182]

There's a big difference between Hulu+ and other streaming services, Hulu has new shows, usually the day after being broadcast. The networks ask for more money because of this. The only other way to legally watch these shows without commercials is buying episodes on iTunes or having a DVR and fast forwarding through them.

Though there are shows with back seasons that are also available on Netflix, it bothers me that those have commercials, so I just watch them on Netflix instead.

My two complaints about Hulu:
For many shows they only have the last 5 episodes, they should at least have the whole season to date.
Theres still shows that are only available on the web, not on devices, and the release time for most of those shows suck.

[Panch0]

Originally Posted by institute

So...

Ads are bad
Selection is wanting

But otherwise its good?

Could you please discuss what might be included in this otherwise?

The Daily Show
The Colbert Report

As others said, next day availability of current season shows. Netfix is a season behind at best.

I put off Hulu for a long time because I didn't want to pay for the service and watch ads. They got me to try it with the free trial offer when the app first came to ATV. The total time of the adds in an episode is less than the time it take me to edit commercials out of EyeTV recordings and convert them to iTunes. It's good enough to pay $8/month.

[machpost]

So it's probably not worth it if you have a full cable TV subscription and a quad-tuner DVR? I've been thinking about trying it out, but I get the impression that it's really geared toward people who have only basic cable or no cable at all.

[Nikhil72]

It's really worth it if you cut the cable out and don't need sports, etc. The ads are not bad at all and certainly a fraction of the number of ads seen on TV. For me, since I don't pay for cable, $7.99/month is a measly amount and well-worth the sacrifice of needing to sit through a few ads.

Only complaint about the ads is that you often see the same ones over and over again. No biggie.

[Rigby]

Originally Posted by Nikhil72

It's really worth it if you cut the cable out and don't need sports, etc. The ads are not bad at all and certainly a fraction of the number of ads seen on TV. For me, since I don't pay for cable, $7.99/month is a measly amount and well-worth the sacrifice of needing to sit through a few ads.

Same here. I use it to catch up on some of the current shows that I like but are not top shows worth buying from iTunes for me. No cable fees, no need to worry about recording, and less intrusive ads than on broadcast TV. And another big attraction for me is the Criterion collection!

[Nikhil72]

Originally Posted by Rigby

Same here. I use it to catch up on some of the current shows that I like but are not top shows worth buying from iTunes for me. No cable fees, no need to worry about recording, and less intrusive ads than on broadcast TV. And another big attraction for me is the Criterion collection!

Exactly. I have a TV show or two that have tons of repeat value (comedies mostly), but I enjoy a great number of other shows that I can easily catch up on with Hulu. Having Hulu on the appletv makes this infinitely easier and more likely that I'll watch it that way than buy it on iTunes.