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'Hulu With Live TV' Appears on App Store, Includes FOX, ABC, NBC, CBS, ESPN, and More [Update: $39.99+]

ThisIsNotMe said:
I really don't understand why there is even such a thing as 'cloud DVR'. It is completely pointless.

All Hulu needs is a single copy of a program, delivered once, pushed to all of its users. Such a waste of resources hosting multiple copies of the same media over and over and over again.
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Networks require the end user to "record" their show to play it back at will. Otherwise you only get to play it through their on demand outlet (which limits playback time and episodes) or through a Hulu or something where again, access is limited and can be revoked.
 
I am not even American and this sounds hugely overpriced and gouging.

Who cares about live TV when you have Netflix and assorted others?
 
after checking the channels that are available in my area, i think ill just stick with DTVNow
 
Oh "live"! *Except in your area you don't get: ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS. Ummm...pass
 
oneMadRssn said:
Who is Cable over IP for? It looks to be no cheaper than traditional cable [EDIT: Many have pointed out it is cheaper than cable in some situations], but certainly buggier and more complex. It's still chock full of ads. And it has none of the benefits of on-demand streaming. I cannot think of a single reason to buy into this entire category.

I'll stick with my Netflix, Hulu Commercial Free, HBOGo mix of products.
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I hopped on DirecTV Now for $35 at launch, for one singular reason, and that's live sports. I literally don't watch anything else on it. It has the RSNs, ESPN, and TNT. If I wasn't a sports fan then this would not appeal to me. For me, it is significantly cheaper than what I was paying for U-Verse TV.
 
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agsystems said:
I understand this is cord cutters, etc...but the price doesn't make a sense in my case - I have Verizon FIOS and I am paying $ 89+tax for Internet 100/100 /phone/ TV (no HBO, etc)
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That's what I'm wondering too. Who does something like this appeal to? I don't have it as sweet as you (FIOS not available here) but have fast Internet and 250 channels of cable for $99 / mo. Have an IP phone using google voice so no extra for that. If I used something like this I would still need to pay for Internet which would cost more than now as a standalone product. Obviously some folks have a use for this type service, I just don't see the appeal.
 
At this price, I'd rather just buy an antenna once for the same this costs for one month, and then be able to view actual live TV at my convenience. (OK, so this include some cable stations, but I don't watch those. And actually, in my area, it hardly includes anything except sports networks and cable channels I wouldn't watch anyway.)

But never fear! If $39.99/mo for Hulu + Live TV is too much for you, you can save by doing Live TV Only for the significantly lower price of ... $38.99/mo! (I wish I was kidding.)
 
milo said:
That's not what's being predicted. We'll see, but that seems unlikely considering the rest of ABC's lineup. Probably one more short final season.
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Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but they're not getting renewed; not even a "short season."

edit: they got a 0.7 this week which is unchanged from last but only slightly up from their series low a few weeks ago at 0.6. Syndication isn't saving them this time, it's over.
 
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zantafio said:
I don't get the appeal of live TV, I really don't. I'm so much more content with a library of thousands of titles on demand.
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it's good for news, sports, and hit shows that mass amounts of people talk about right when it airs (unless you avoid people and the internet until you get a chance to watch it on demand)
 
Everyone here is disappointed about this but for someone who already pays for Hulu this is pretty compelling. I pay for PS Vue (for $30), which has a similar/worse channel line up but its interfaces is absolutely horrendous. By switching to Hulu Live TV I spend only $2 more a month for a service that has a amazing user interface that's actually usable, plus I get all my Hulu shows plus Live TV plus satellite channels in one App, sounds amazing to me.
 
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I don't understand something. I signed up for the free trial. I want to watch Survivor tonight. It starts at 8:00 PM. If at 8:10 PM I want to start watching survivor, I will be able to because it's available on demand at any time after the start time or I would have needed to put it in my DVR? And shows that are available on demand, and are in my shows, are they counted against your DVR allotment? Maybe I am not clear on something.
 
FasterQuieter said:
It wouldn't surprise me at all if there is actually some arcane regulation that forces them to make thousands of copies on request. As dumb as that sounds. Like Aereo's thousands of literal antennas in server farms.
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That is in fact exactly what they do, and the archaic regulation is copyright law. Providing an individual service to an individual customer at that customer's request falls within the existing terms of the providers' contracts with the broadcasters. Providing a shared service, legally, puts the broadcaster in the position where broadcasters can accuse them of staging a "public performance," which is a different and much more expensive license. That includes proactively recording all television and offering a "Cloud DVR" that amounts to a series of bookmarks into that recording.

Providing a localized storage service, where the DVR hardware is basically the same just not located in the subscriber's home, avoids that minefield. It's a crazy industry.
 
oneMadRssn said:
Is there a good term for these types of services yet (Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV, Sling TV, DirecTV Now, PlayStation Vue)? They're not quite on-demand streaming (Netflix, Hulu, HBOGo) but they're not quite traditional cable either (Comcast, Verizon, etc.) I like calling them Cable over IP, or CoIP for short.

Who is Cable over IP for? It looks to be no cheaper than traditional cable [EDIT: Many have pointed out it is cheaper than cable in some situations], but certainly buggier and more complex. It's still chock full of ads. And it has none of the benefits of on-demand streaming. I cannot think of a single reason to buy into this entire category.

I'll stick with my Netflix, Hulu Commercial Free, HBOGo mix of products.
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Actually it's called IPTV. I know I have it with Centurylink Fiber. Ethernet cable goes from the router to the cable box.

Has anybody actually typed in their zipcode to see if you get live networks ? I tried it and all 3 major networks are on demand only.
 
I think these services are not quite getting it.

What people really want and where things are going and what the tech allows is on-demand everything and no "live" tv aka linear tv...except of course when you have actual live events.

Netflix is going to take over and kill a ton of channels if the channels don't wake up to this.
 
Seems strange (to me) the channels they think we want. None in this package interest me. I could get by with only three: TCM, PBS and SportsNetLA. None of these are available let alone included. Someday, maybe, we will be able to select and pay for only the channels we want instead of the channels somebody else thinks we want.
 
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I pay less for actual cable with a real PVR. Throw in a netflix sub and I'm at about the same price.

Maybe it's supposed to flop in a huge way so the cable providers can point to it and "prove" to the FCC people like their system the way it is and don't want to stream.
 
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trip1ex said:
I think these services are not quite getting it.

What people really want and where things are going and what the tech allows is on-demand everything and no "live" tv aka linear tv...except of course when you have actual live events.

Netflix is going to take over and kill a ton of channels if the channels don't wake up to this.
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They are fully aware of this. It's why the Hulu on-demand service exists (Hulu is owned by ABC/Disney, NBC Universal, Fox and Turner Broadcasting). But apparently a sizeable part of the population still likes to watch live TV, so they are covering all bases.
 
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