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Awhile back an HBO executive claimed that it would never happen. Referring to being able to subscribe to HBO without a premium cable package.
They're owned by Time Warner so that's not entirely surprising. Even though Time Warner Cable is a separate entity now, I'm sure the corporate heads still have a relationship. That said, I suspect HBO will be singing a different tune if cable and satellite companies start losing enough customers.
 
Hulu Plus Is An Excellent Addition

That is good news about Hulu Plus on Apple TV as now I won't need to switch my TV device source, power up my PS3 or Xbox 360, log into Gamer Tag then log into Hulu Plus - will make life so much easier. There are more TV Apps available on other devices so this addition will make Apple TV more popular. I would pay for just HBO Go TV streaming on Apple TV as I terminated my satellite service earlier this year.
 
The problem is that cable systems don't work like that, there's dozens of partnerships between networks that keep the smaller networks on the air (btw, HGTV isn't one of those, they do quite well). When broken down you pay a premium price for channels like ESPN and only a few cents for the no-name channels.

The big networks have deals and force the cable providers to include smaller networks with them if they want the premium content. Some networks would survive with content or networks a la carte but many wouldn't.

That isn't necessarily a bad thing, I don't think many of us would lose sleep if the Biography Channel or Wealth TV went off the air. Right now things just aren't set up to work that way.




Raising Hope is one of the funniest shows on tv :)


"Right now things just aren't setup to work that way." This is exactly why I'm hoping a company like Apple could do what they do best - change the ****** way it work!
 
Yeah, 've been [again] thinking about "cutting the cord", but we want to watch Breaking Bad, Walking Dead, Justified, Mad Men, at least a few days close to the original airing, wouldn't even mind the commercials.

I sat down at looked at Netflix + Hulu Plus + OTA + iTunes + Amazon Prime [etc...]

Just misses the few shows we actually watch which are on the cable networks like you mentioned (AMC, FX)

At least DirecTV has Spongebob again :D

Last year Walking Dead was available via Netflix (season 1) and iTunes (season 2) I watched season two the day after it aired on TV. I assume they will have season three available for purchase prior to Oct when it comes back on. I think Breaking Bad is available the same way.
 
After a few hours with it I am truly impressed. I wish there were more of my shows available (Wilfred, etc), but for now I am very happy. It may be just enough for me to cancel cable but unfortunately my savings will only be about $60 because I have to pay for phone and internet for work (internet for personal as well of course).

This is a great step. Even without HBOgo I am quite pleased. I also wonder if this kills (if this was said sorry) the increased premium some have been paying for the ATV2.
 
how come no one has asked EXACTLY how this has shown up on the atv3? all is states is a reboot is necessary? but is any new software being downloaded? and is this the only update? does this have any implications on a JB atv2? i find it quite strange that this app just SHOWS up after reboot...or am i way off here?

how come no one has mentioned this?

isnt anyone concerned how something just SHOWS UP? i find it completely strange that there wasnt an update to the apple tv software.

also to note, huluplus also showed up on my jailbroken ATV2 and xmbc still works just as fine. im very interested on how this app just APPEARS>
 
...annnnd it's gone internationally. Yesterday it worked fine without VPN from Germany, today I'm getting a "Geo Restriction" error -.-
 
how come no one has mentioned this?

isnt anyone concerned how something just SHOWS UP? i find it completely strange that there wasnt an update to the apple tv software.

also to note, huluplus also showed up on my jailbroken ATV2 and xmbc still works just as fine. im very interested on how this app just APPEARS>

Honestly, I ran an update but that is likely because I don't hardly update mine. I have an ATV2 and unless I found reason, I wouldn't bother. Therefore, in my mind Hulu+ showed up after an update.

The fact that it was unnecessary to update is pretty weird but if something is always on but sleeping isn't it possible that they could just push it to your device? Otherwise, I wonder how the ATV really works.

Tin foil hat wearers unite.
 
I assume this will work on ATV2 and 3 only?

You assume correctly. Apple has no support for AppleTV Gen 1 (beyond refunding a movie that doesn't download correctly or whatever on it). They couldn't even be bothered to offer TV show rentals (back when they had them; now no one can get them) despite the fact they were already available in the same format, etc. Apple's lack of support for even the most basic software updates (i.e. little things, bug fixes, etc.) for their older products is one of the things that gives me hesitation to buy their products in the future.

Just look at the mess that is Lion and how those that are still using Snow Leopard (either by choice or because Apple dumped all support for their hardware) are pretty much screwed and stuck with whatever bugs and missing features that are present (including the dumping of Mobile Me which is present in Snow Leopard despite it no longer existing with no support for iCloud). No Safari 6, probably no more security updates, etc. One could argue Microsoft goes to the other extreme, but that's the one thing I like about that company. XP is still plenty usable 11 years later. Snow Leopard had its last major update just over a year ago and it's pretty much abandonware at this point, as is all PPC software, etc. since they dumped Rosetta (whereas most games made in the past decade still work fine in Windows7 in an XP emulated mode)

Anyway, I don't get why anyone would want Hulu Plus (especially compared to Netflix, which is the same price with NO commercials and a lot more choices). Yeah, some of the TV shows are more up-to-date, but we're talking only two networks AND they make you PAY to watch freaking commercials to boot (and no I don't like that about cable either, but at least I have full control over my DVR to skip them) for Network TV programs (which is FREE over Antenna). It seems to me either offer the service free with commercials or give me no commercials if I have to pay for it. And THAT could very well be the next big thing. Ala Carte service with options for zero commercials at a price. After watching Netflix for shows I never got around to watching in the past, etc., I'm absolutely spoiled by the lack of commercials and pretty much CAN'T STAND live TV anymore (e.g. it's rough putting up with commercials...especially those annoying political ones...during the Olympics and since it's not LIVE anyway, I'd probably be better off recording it and watching it the next day on the DVR).

People pay for HBO, Showtime, etc. to NOT watch commercials or get their favorite movies chopped to hell (i.e. this movie has been edited for content, language, speed up to squeeze more commercials in using frame dropping techniques and time and has been reformatted to fit someone else's screen...in other words we chopped the movie to hell and stuffed it full of freaking commercials every 5 minutes so it takes 3 hours to watch a 2 hour movie that is really only 1.2 hours long since we cut 30 minutes of the movie out and dropped every 10th frame to fit more commercials in. We edited the dialogue to protect your virgin ears and thus killed half the jokes in comedies, cut out all the racy scenes that make romantic movies any fun what-so-ever to protect your virgin eyes and then blast you with commercials to buy giant giant artery clogging bacon cheeseburgers, condoms, feminine odor products and sex toys every 5 minutes :rolleyes:).
 
You're not alone. And this is far from just a Salt Lake City problem.

I doubt there can ever be such a (alternate) provider. If anyone or anything has a shot at eating into the the typical broadband monopoly or duopoly (in some cases), the established players just buy them out and/or crush them.

Even free city-wide wifi initiatives tend to get crushed by those big companies who prefer to sell broadband. A few cities managed to pull this off but many others try (or at least pretend to try) only to bail on the plan (probably after campaign dollars are exchanged).

Allow a cheap broadband player to get a solid stake in a market and they can eat up the broadband business of the major players. But it's not just broadband revenue at stake. Allowing the cheap alternative to flourish means also putting the video subscription model at risk. And, in cases such as city-wide free wifi initiatives, the 3G/4G cellular subscription model is at risk (by VOIP alternatives). The Comcasts, Verizons, AT&T, etc all like things "as is" much too much to allow any upstart to eat into their monopolies/duopolies in any given area.

Notice how broadband is an evolving, rapidly-growing market (more and more people continue to switch from dialup to broadband), yet how many new "lower price" competitors for that business have popped up in your town over the last 5+ years. The "make it up on volume" concept would certainly apply in a growing market like broadband. So why aren't no-name competitors popping up like cell phone kiosks?

I'm surprised these monopolies are allowed to exist. Why is that... oh yeah. Because the DOJ is too busy with eBook pricing...
 
You really think once enough people have "cut the cord" cable companies won't raise your internet access rates to pretty much the same as getting their package deals? Enjoy it while it lasts, but just like the cell carriers they will just raise rates to compensate loss of income streams (no pun intended lol) :(

Hopefully Google Fiber becomes a reality throughout the US.
 
Anyway, I don't get why anyone would want Hulu Plus (especially compared to Netflix, which is the same price with NO commercials and a lot more choices). Yeah, some of the TV shows are more up-to-date, but we're talking only two networks AND they make you PAY to watch freaking commercials to boot (and no I don't like that about cable either, but at least I have full control over my DVR to skip them) for Network TV programs (which is FREE over Antenna).
I agree about commercials, and enumerated several other Hulu problems yesterday, but "two networks" isn't even correct to describe the ownership, let alone the content.
 
I agree about commercials, and enumerated several other Hulu problems yesterday, but "two networks" isn't even correct to describe the ownership, let alone the content.

Well I guess something has changed since I last looked at "regular" Hulu with Boxee (admittedly years ago) when it was just Fox and NBC behind it.
 
how come no one has mentioned this?

isnt anyone concerned how something just SHOWS UP? i find it completely strange that there wasnt an update to the apple tv software.

also to note, huluplus also showed up on my jailbroken ATV2 and xmbc still works just as fine. im very interested on how this app just APPEARS>

I personally was setting up the Apple TV on a WiFi network that it had never seen before yesterday, and it still appeared even before I signed onto the WiFi. Makes me wonder if it was set to appear on July 31st, and had just been hidden in the last software update.
 
...annnnd it's gone internationally. Yesterday it worked fine without VPN from Germany, today I'm getting a "Geo Restriction" error -.-

Yup, same here (also in Germany). Really sad about this as I would glad fork over the cash to them to watch all the shows they had (bunch I never saw, or never finished).

This sort of thing is why I really hate region restrictions. Not sure how best to get around it, if I will.
 
Could you provide a little more detail? I have a huluplus.com subscription already that I got a long time ago. On your AppleTV how did you get the Hulu app to show up at all? Did you just use your appleID email to pay for your hulu account and then the app just magically appeared on your AppleTV? Thanks.

I have my iTunes account set to US. I restarted the AppleTV and HuluPlus then shows up. I subscribed to HuluPlus on AppleTV using my US iTunes account. Overnight it seems that Hulu cracked down and now imposes a GeoBlock so you must use a VPN or DNS service. I use unblock-us.com and it works perfectly. Doing this you will also have access to Netflix US.
 
And am I then paying my cable company for the additional service? I use cox for my internet service. Could I just split the line and plug the cable into the tv without changing my service contract?

Adding a splitter to do this can slow down your internet speeds. You're messing with the signal and can mess it up.
 
Wheeeeww!

You assume correctly. Apple has no support for AppleTV Gen 1 (beyond refunding a movie that doesn't download correctly or whatever on it). They couldn't even be bothered to offer TV show rentals (back when they had them; now no one can get them) despite the fact they were already available in the same format, etc. Apple's lack of support for even the most basic software updates (i.e. little things, bug fixes, etc.) for their older products is one of the things that gives me hesitation to buy their products in the future.

Just look at the mess that is Lion and how those that are still using Snow Leopard (either by choice or because Apple dumped all support for their hardware) are pretty much screwed and stuck with whatever bugs and missing features that are present (including the dumping of Mobile Me which is present in Snow Leopard despite it no longer existing with no support for iCloud). No Safari 6, probably no more security updates, etc. One could argue Microsoft goes to the other extreme, but that's the one thing I like about that company. XP is still plenty usable 11 years later. Snow Leopard had its last major update just over a year ago and it's pretty much abandonware at this point, as is all PPC software, etc. since they dumped Rosetta (whereas most games made in the past decade still work fine in Windows7 in an XP emulated mode)

Anyway, I don't get why anyone would want Hulu Plus (especially compared to Netflix, which is the same price with NO commercials and a lot more choices). Yeah, some of the TV shows are more up-to-date, but we're talking only two networks AND they make you PAY to watch freaking commercials to boot (and no I don't like that about cable either, but at least I have full control over my DVR to skip them) for Network TV programs (which is FREE over Antenna). It seems to me either offer the service free with commercials or give me no commercials if I have to pay for it. And THAT could very well be the next big thing. Ala Carte service with options for zero commercials at a price. After watching Netflix for shows I never got around to watching in the past, etc., I'm absolutely spoiled by the lack of commercials and pretty much CAN'T STAND live TV anymore (e.g. it's rough putting up with commercials...especially those annoying political ones...during the Olympics and since it's not LIVE anyway, I'd probably be better off recording it and watching it the next day on the DVR).

People pay for HBO, Showtime, etc. to NOT watch commercials or get their favorite movies chopped to hell (i.e. this movie has been edited for content, language, speed up to squeeze more commercials in using frame dropping techniques and time and has been reformatted to fit someone else's screen...in other words we chopped the movie to hell and stuffed it full of freaking commercials every 5 minutes so it takes 3 hours to watch a 2 hour movie that is really only 1.2 hours long since we cut 30 minutes of the movie out and dropped every 10th frame to fit more commercials in. We edited the dialogue to protect your virgin ears and thus killed half the jokes in comedies, cut out all the racy scenes that make romantic movies any fun what-so-ever to protect your virgin eyes and then blast you with commercials to buy giant giant artery clogging bacon cheeseburgers, condoms, feminine odor products and sex toys every 5 minutes :rolleyes:).


I hope you feel better now! :eek:
 
After a few hours with it I am truly impressed. I wish there were more of my shows available (Wilfred, etc), but for now I am very happy. It may be just enough for me to cancel cable but unfortunately my savings will only be about $60 because I have to pay for phone and internet for work (internet for personal as well of course).

This is a great step. Even without HBOgo I am quite pleased. I also wonder if this kills (if this was said sorry) the increased premium some have been paying for the ATV2.

We didn't cancel cable 100% but were able to lower the package. Hulu+ is nice, we kind of use it as a DVR at times. We watch Grimm, NCIS LA, Supernatural, and other shows on Hulu+ and the commercials aren't that long. When we did have a DVR and fast forward a commercial, FF too far, back up, and then we finally get to where we want is about the same amount of time as the 2 Hulu commercials.

Between Hulu+ and Netflix, it's nice. I found a lot of old shows on Hulu+ that I really miss that Netfix doesn't have.
 
We didn't cancel cable 100% but were able to lower the package. Hulu+ is nice, we kind of use it as a DVR at times. We watch Grimm, NCIS LA, Supernatural, and other shows on Hulu+ and the commercials aren't that long. When we did have a DVR and fast forward a commercial, FF too far, back up, and then we finally get to where we want is about the same amount of time as the 2 Hulu commercials.

Between Hulu+ and Netflix, it's nice. I found a lot of old shows on Hulu+ that I really miss that Netfix doesn't have.

I can see that. What I've learned is that because I need internet and I need the landline for work, I am tied to this minimum amount already. A lesser package, the 70 channels of just basic plus cable with no DVR or anything is about $45, add taxes and I'm not saving money. They're telling me they want $99 for the phone and internet, I pay $165 for all three and no premium movie channels.
 
You assume correctly. Apple has no support for AppleTV Gen 1 (beyond refunding a movie that doesn't download correctly or whatever on it). They couldn't even be bothered to offer TV show rentals (back when they had them; now no one can get them) despite the fact they were already available in the same format, etc. Apple's lack of support for even the most basic software updates (i.e. little things, bug fixes, etc.) for their older products is one of the things that gives me hesitation to buy their products in the future.

Just look at the mess that is Lion and how those that are still using Snow Leopard (either by choice or because Apple dumped all support for their hardware) are pretty much screwed and stuck with whatever bugs and missing features that are present (including the dumping of Mobile Me which is present in Snow Leopard despite it no longer existing with no support for iCloud). No Safari 6, probably no more security updates, etc. One could argue Microsoft goes to the other extreme, but that's the one thing I like about that company. XP is still plenty usable 11 years later. Snow Leopard had its last major update just over a year ago and it's pretty much abandonware at this point, as is all PPC software, etc. since they dumped Rosetta (whereas most games made in the past decade still work fine in Windows7 in an XP emulated mode)

Anyway, I don't get why anyone would want Hulu Plus (especially compared to Netflix, which is the same price with NO commercials and a lot more choices). Yeah, some of the TV shows are more up-to-date, but we're talking only two networks AND they make you PAY to watch freaking commercials to boot (and no I don't like that about cable either, but at least I have full control over my DVR to skip them) for Network TV programs (which is FREE over Antenna). It seems to me either offer the service free with commercials or give me no commercials if I have to pay for it. And THAT could very well be the next big thing. Ala Carte service with options for zero commercials at a price. After watching Netflix for shows I never got around to watching in the past, etc., I'm absolutely spoiled by the lack of commercials and pretty much CAN'T STAND live TV anymore (e.g. it's rough putting up with commercials...especially those annoying political ones...during the Olympics and since it's not LIVE anyway, I'd probably be better off recording it and watching it the next day on the DVR).

People pay for HBO, Showtime, etc. to NOT watch commercials or get their favorite movies chopped to hell (i.e. this movie has been edited for content, language, speed up to squeeze more commercials in using frame dropping techniques and time and has been reformatted to fit someone else's screen...in other words we chopped the movie to hell and stuffed it full of freaking commercials every 5 minutes so it takes 3 hours to watch a 2 hour movie that is really only 1.2 hours long since we cut 30 minutes of the movie out and dropped every 10th frame to fit more commercials in. We edited the dialogue to protect your virgin ears and thus killed half the jokes in comedies, cut out all the racy scenes that make romantic movies any fun what-so-ever to protect your virgin eyes and then blast you with commercials to buy giant giant artery clogging bacon cheeseburgers, condoms, feminine odor products and sex toys every 5 minutes :rolleyes:).



Agreed about TV and commercials, however I have Netflix streaming and love it, however strange how some of the older movies are missing, like Saving Private Ryan, been out for years. I can only assume they have some negotiation issues with the studios and that is why some movies are missing.

What I like is I sign up for six months, then cancel, wait a few months for movies to refresh, then enable my account again, works well and it is legal.

I only use the ATV now to load movies on it, so where I go I can take them with me, however it is getting slower and slower to use, and I think I am at a point where it is time to sell it and get another ATV3

I was watching the Godfather on AMC Monday, and can not believe all the parts they cut out, or removed to fit 9 Million commercials, pisses me off, and I refuse to pay for cable to watch the same things over and over again.
If you have HBO to HBO20, all channels play the same movies day in and day out, at different time slots, and they want you to pay for each premium channel, so for $60.00 you get Stars, Showtime, HBO, Cinemax? huh Really? Give me the ability to buy just the channels I want or no thanks.
 
You assume correctly. Apple has no support for AppleTV Gen 1 (beyond refunding a movie that doesn't download correctly or whatever on it)...

My AppleTV Classic still has much life. Since it has a hard drive inside, I travel with it. Last year when I spent 6 weeks in London, I used it to watch The NBC Nightly News and The Rachel Maddow Show podcasts every morning (from the night before), as well as the many movies and TV shows that I had loaded up on it. I even ran BBC's iPlayer on the FireCore modified internet browser.

And now it is the only version of AppleTV that will feed DTS Surround Sound audio to my home entertainment system (I compress it with Apple Lossless in iTunes and feed it to my AppleTV). Apparently the reason why the AppleTVs 2 & 3 no longer support DTS Surround Sound audio is that they output 48KHz and not 41.1KHz as is needed.

Snow Leopard had its last major update just over a year ago and it's pretty much abandonware at this point, as is all PPC software, etc. since they dumped Rosetta (whereas most games made in the past decade still work fine in Windows7 in an XP emulated mode)...

Apple did not dump Rosetta. Their license to use the underlying software expired with new OS' commencing with Lion and IBM, the company that now owns the underlying software would not be inclined to relicense it, even if Apple wanted to...
 
I think this might be the nail; I was looking for I'm not really in to "Amazon on Demand" don't get me wrong great service but if your like me that like classics movies, just watch tv once in a while for a few shows, than maybe rent a new movie maybe once a month this is great Roku is getting flooded with to many apps, the others are lacking in some areas with content

Only apps; I pray we might come to see a light is a NFL, UFC, HBO GO with Apple TV only subscription that could officially put icing on a nice cake for cable cutters, not 50 apps, or services that repeat there selves just with a different name a box with entertainment for the masses with out having to dig through apps :)
 
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