$39.99/month to watch reruns of The Big Bang Theory? Shoot me now.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Hulu Bringing CBS-Owned Networks to Live TV Service, Which Will Be Priced 'Under $40' Per Month
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
If the channel lineup is anything close to DirectTV Now, I am switching after 3 months is up. I can't deal with the error 1502 anymore.
DIRECTV Now has a lot of promise, but it's clearly in beta. I expected that going in since they were giving people a "free" Apple TV in exchange for prepaying for 3 months of service. That screams, "Come beta test our new product and we'll give you an Apple TV!"
The service is fine during the day; but between the hours of 6 PM and Midnight ET (when I would presume that there are a large number of people using the service), I can't watch any particular channel for longer than 5 or 10 minutes without getting an error saying that there was a problem and to try again (usually error QP1502). Streaming HBO's on-demand content has proven to be particularly troublesome. There are hoards of people reporting the same problems so it's clearly an issue that AT&T needs to address on their end.
They know the clock is running on getting these bugs ironed out. They have until the beginning of March and after that, if the service is still unusable in the evening, it's not worth $40/month ($35 base + $5 for HBO).
The service is fine during the day; but between the hours of 6 PM and Midnight ET (when I would presume that there are a large number of people using the service), I can't watch any particular channel for longer than 5 or 10 minutes without getting an error saying that there was a problem and to try again (usually error QP1502). Streaming HBO's on-demand content has proven to be particularly troublesome. There are hoards of people reporting the same problems so it's clearly an issue that AT&T needs to address on their end.
They know the clock is running on getting these bugs ironed out. They have until the beginning of March and after that, if the service is still unusable in the evening, it's not worth $40/month ($35 base + $5 for HBO).
I'm skeptical. It looks like the brave new world of streaming TV is just going to end up with all the disadvantages of cable, buying bundles of channels (I dislike paying for sports I don't watch), paying monthly rates for things you aren't watching and so on. Especially when it concerns programming that is already advertising-supported.
With the additional downside of burdening the internet with redundant streams of data, and even more with 4K.
I'll use my antenna and buy shows i really want to watch a la carte from Amazon, thank you. Or discover shows I missed two years ago on Netflix.
With the additional downside of burdening the internet with redundant streams of data, and even more with 4K.
I'll use my antenna and buy shows i really want to watch a la carte from Amazon, thank you. Or discover shows I missed two years ago on Netflix.
Yeah - I was pretty sad about the new Star Trek only being available via that $8/month CBS All Access. Too much to pay for just one weekly show. I was thinking maybe I would get a single month of CBS All Access during Star Trek's final month so I could just binge all the episodes for $8.
That looks like the thing to do now if you can wait for your favorite show to be over. I plan on doing this with HBO for Game of Thrones after the summer. Well, unless I get a great deal from FiOS or Comcast.
Last year, I was able to get local TV and HBO for $5 more than just internet alone. But, if I can't get a similar deal, then I will wait for GoT to be over and just pay for a month of it on the HBO Now app and binge it along with anything else that is interesting. Then cancel the sub.
You are correct. Considering what I'm paying now for cable. I don't see or can justify $40 for this. It would have to be specifically what you're interested in with CBS broadcasting.
We're finally getting our wish to have streaming competition for cable TV. But it's not coming cheap. As has been said in the past, the big question is who controls the data pipe. So if you're only ISP in your area is a cable provider, this Hulu deal makes little sense and would cost you a lot more money. If someone else besides a cable company is your ISP, it might make sense, but then you'd have your ISP bill plus the various bills from content providers, which would end up costing as much (or more) than if you just had a cable provider. We're at the mercy of the data pipe.
I wish $40 would be a traditional net cable-cost (plus broadband+hidden fees+taxes). Nowhere close.
I have made a list of the original programs we traditionally watch using cable on-demand, anywhere (either Roku, laptop, idevices, TV monitor, all at no extra cost, location independent) (do not care for Netflix):
TOP-13 TV CHANNELS WITH ORIGINAL SHOWS, WATCHED:
- NBC (nbc.com): The Blacklist, Blindspot, Shades of Blue, Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., Chicago Med, Timeless
- ABC (abc.go.com): Designated Survivor
- FOX (foxnow.com): Lethal Weapon, Rosewood
- Showtime (showtimeanytime.com): Billions, Ray Donovan, Homeland
- HBO (hbogo.com): Game of Thrones, Westworld, Deadwood, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Tracey Ullman’s Show, Ballers
- Starz (starz.com): Outlander, Black Sails
- TNT (tntdrama.com): Good Behavior, Animal Kingdom, The Last Ship
- USA (USANetwork.com): Shooter
- History (history.com): Vikings
- FX (fxnetworks.com): The Americans
- NBCSports (nbcsports.com): English Premier League (EPL)
- TV5Monde (usa.tv5monde.com): French Cinema/News/Documentaries
- Comedy Central (cc.com): South Park
its QP1502....i have seen enough of them...
I actually got a QP1501 last night. They're changing up the code just a little bit to keep things interesting.
Likely still more expensive than buying individual season passes of your favourite shows on iTunes.
All of these Internet services are always missing at least one major network it seems like...
I got that on Apple TV with the Channels App, HDHomeRun and an antenna, using Plex media server DVR...
Same here (although I generally buy shows from iTunes since I have an Apple TV).
I'm a cable-cutter, currently doing Netflix, Hulu (ad-free), HBO; and giving DirecTV NOW a try.
My main, admittedly-somewhat-geeky gripe about Hulu continues to be lack of Dolby 5.1 (and lack of 1080p to a lesser extent). Over-the-air (since the digital switch), cable (for 2 decades), and just about every streaming service have been offering 5.1 surround, which most programming includes at this point.
I email Hulu about this every year and they, bless their hearts, give me the same response every year saying they are "committed to improving" but have "technical and licensing constraints". The Hulu offering continues to be compelling -- up to and including this announcement -- but it's frustrating that they continue to fall behind tech-quality-wise while Neflix and others continue to aim for the emerging "quality" technologies like 4K, HDR, Dolby Digital EX, etc.
But egg on my face: I still have no intention of (yet) cancelling my Hulu subscription
My main, admittedly-somewhat-geeky gripe about Hulu continues to be lack of Dolby 5.1 (and lack of 1080p to a lesser extent). Over-the-air (since the digital switch), cable (for 2 decades), and just about every streaming service have been offering 5.1 surround, which most programming includes at this point.
I email Hulu about this every year and they, bless their hearts, give me the same response every year saying they are "committed to improving" but have "technical and licensing constraints". The Hulu offering continues to be compelling -- up to and including this announcement -- but it's frustrating that they continue to fall behind tech-quality-wise while Neflix and others continue to aim for the emerging "quality" technologies like 4K, HDR, Dolby Digital EX, etc.
But egg on my face: I still have no intention of (yet) cancelling my Hulu subscription
I've been using TiVo for OTA for the past few years, but I'm thinking of getting a Tablo when the TiVo dies. I like the Tablo model better (headless DVR, tvOS app for UI).
I'd really like to see TiVo release something like the Tablo since I've been pretty happy with them overall, but I'm not sure how likely that might be.
Are they completely bonkers?
I pay $11 for Hulu. I'm gonna pay for $40 for Hulu + CBS content? What?
This is like WalMart pay....the perfect example of a product that was in the works before other major competitors swept in and launched other things that completely invalidate it.
I pay $11 for Hulu. I'm gonna pay for $40 for Hulu + CBS content? What?
This is like WalMart pay....the perfect example of a product that was in the works before other major competitors swept in and launched other things that completely invalidate it.
Looks good. I already using Hulu more than Netflix as NF has nothing left to watch after they took away about 80% of what I was or was going to watch on Jan 1st 2017 and I hate most of there stupid original programming. Most likely drop NF next month finally and if Hulu live has all the channels I watch on Sling.tv in HD as DTVNot has certain channels still only in horrible 480i then I can drop Sling.tv too and save more money by paying what I am now.
I just got both Tablo and DirectTV Now less a month ago. Tablo is just wonderful for recording HD OTA shows on traditional networks. Channel surfing on it, however, is nearly impossible because of the slow loading time. But I've been using it only for watching recorded shows anyway and, again, it's just wonderful.
I prepaid for 3 months of DirectTV Now mostly to get the free Apple TV. There have been lots of streaming errors for the On Demand service, and when it did work, the commercials (2+ mins long each and repetitive) are super annoying. If DirectTV Now didn't introduce the promised DRV function (that allows commercial skipping) before the end of the 3-month period, I'd cancel it.
I thought I was missing something too. Maybe not. So, what happens when FOX, NBC, and ABC get added? 40 bucks, 40 bucks, 40 bucks? Sorry, no.
Again, maybe I'm missing something here, but $40, seems like an outrageously high price.
I've tried Sling, PS Vue, and Direct TV Now at various points and I'm currently using Direct TV Now. PS Vue is by far the best experience, but the loss of channels irks. Direct TV Now is currently too buggy, as the comments above indicate. I'm giving Direct TV Now until the end of the three-month trial period and if it isn't improved (more simultaneous streams, a better channel guide, DVR, and far fewer disconnects), I'm going back to PS Vue.
Missing a lot... it's a live TV service that ALSO includes CBS. If true, it would be the first service to include CBS outside of their own standalone service.
Hulu is owned by Fox, NBC (Comcast), ABC (Disney) and Time Warner (HBO, TNT, TBS, CNN)... so they're already in. This could be the service that changes everything, since as owners, they could in theory take less (or provide for free) for their channels since they split the subscription fee itself, leaving more of the pot to get contracts with other companies like Scripps, Viacom, etc.