Hulu question

[Sevrin]

So Hulu seems to stream more recent content, but, say, only the past X number of episodes of a current season. Is that how they work generally, or does subscribing to Hulu Plus give access to the complete current season?

My problem is that I get hooked on shows on Netflix, but they generally only put up complete past seasons, and I'm stuck either waiting or having to go look for pirated episodes, which I'd rather not do.

 

[LioraVox]

Hulu Plus shows X amount of episodes of the current season. It kinda sucks if you get behind because you'll still need to look up/ pirate episodes that you've missed. Like if you wanted to catch up on a shoe that was on mid-season break episode 1-6 or something won't be there because they got cycled out.

 

[AshleyNicole_]

It depends on the show and the expiration date of available shows are different for each network/show. I have exclusively used Hulu and Netflix for the past 3 years and LOVE it. They have free 2 week trial. Also, current episodes are usually available the day after they air.

 

[zippypinhead]

Honestly, it varies from show to show, or network to network. I would say that the average is something like access to 8 or 10 current episodes. Plus does give you almost immediately after-air access, though, so you don't have to wait all that long to get your next installment. And there are enough shows out there that post full seasons to be notable. It really is kind of a crap shoot, but once you find yourself caught up to where Hulu is, it makes it really easy to stay current from there on out.

I like Plus in general, and I do think it's worth paying for. I can't back this up with scientific evidence, but I suspect that Hulu's content offering is a lot deeper than Netflix's. I tend to find myself surprised and delighted by what I find from digging around Hulu more than with Netflix or Prime. There have been multiple times where I have searched out a subject, like wrestling or anime or comedy shows or geeky reality stuff like Top Gear and Mythbusters, and have ended up incredibly disappointed by Netflix's catalog, only to be met with a veritable flood of stuff on Hulu. They have a ton of exclusive content, too. Also, people don't tend to be aware that movies on Hulu Plus are commercial free, and a lot of old tv shows have little to no commercial interruptions. It's the new-season content that gets all the commercial breaks, and honestly, I've never felt so inundated by commercials on Hulu Plus as with OTA tv, so it's never been much of a problem in my mind. Of course, when it comes to commercials, your mileage may vary. I know a lot of people just can't stand them at all.

It would be worth at least giving it a try, I think.

 

[JerryBoBerry]

I like Plus in general, and I do think it's worth paying for. I can't back this up with scientific evidence, but I suspect that Hulu's content offering is a lot deeper than Netflix's. I tend to find myself surprised and delighted by what I find from digging around Hulu more than with Netflix or Prime. There have been multiple times where I have searched out a subject, like wrestling or anime or comedy shows or geeky reality stuff like Top Gear and Mythbusters, and have ended up incredibly disappointed by Netflix's catalog, only to be met with a veritable flood of stuff on Hulu.

Netflix has, by far, the most streaming content available. However, in stuff you mentioned there, mostly current run shows (not movies or older stuff), Hulu has more since they specialize in TV show related content. If you are wanting TV shows, go with Hulu. If you want more of a mix and just 'more' in general, netflix. That said Amazon is playing catch up fast. They've been buying up exclusive licenses to stream several big shows. And the Prime account comes with other benefits for about the same yearly price as the other two.

This site did a pretty good comparison of the three services.

http://lifehacker.com/tv-streaming-head-to-head-netflix-vs-hulu-vs-amazon-pr-1536006625
But it's summed up by this graphic.

 

[Sevrin]

I like Plus in general, and I do think it's worth paying for. I can't back this up with scientific evidence, but I suspect that Hulu's content offering is a lot deeper than Netflix's. I tend to find myself surprised and delighted by what I find from digging around Hulu more than with Netflix or Prime. There have been multiple times where I have searched out a subject, like wrestling or anime or comedy shows or geeky reality stuff like Top Gear and Mythbusters, and have ended up incredibly disappointed by Netflix's catalog, only to be met with a veritable flood of stuff on Hulu.

Netflix has, by far, the most streaming content available. However, in stuff you mentioned there, mostly current run shows (not movies or older stuff), Hulu has more since they specialize in TV show related content. If you are wanting TV shows, go with Hulu. If you want more of a mix and just 'more' in general, netflix. That said Amazon is playing catch up fast. They've been buying up exclusive licenses to stream several big shows. And the Prime account comes with other benefits for about the same yearly price as the other two.

This site did a pretty good comparison of the three services.

http://lifehacker.com/tv-streaming-head-to-head-netflix-vs-hulu-vs-amazon-pr-1536006625
But it's summed up by this graphic.

That's pretty out of date for Netflix, and possibly for the others. Between US and CDN Netflix, you can watch Friends, Suits, Homeland and Criminal Minds. All it takes is switching your VPN location to get both countries feed on the same account.

For international viewers, Hulu is a lot trickier for proxies. For instance, Hola for Chrome doesn't work with them. That's the main reason I've not signed up with them while I've been on Netflix for quite a while now.

 

[zippypinhead]

This site did a pretty good comparison of the three services.

http://lifehacker.com/tv-streaming-head-to-head-netflix-vs-hulu-vs-amazon-pr-1536006625
But it's summed up by this graphic.

Yeah, that info is a year out of date, and Netflix has been losing a lot of ground to both Plus and Prime over the course of the intervening months in different ways, mostly because Netflix has shifted its focus to producing more and more of its own content, to make good in its intention, "To become HBO faster than HBO can become us." As that has happened, Prime and Plus have stepped in to pick up what Netflix has set down as far as third-party content is concerned.

Each service has their individual strengths, to be sure, and Hulu's strength is current season episodes. I would still say that, outside of what Hulu is generally known and used for, there is a lot of hidden depth to their catalog. But maybe that's just because my personal tastes happen to align with what they offer. :shrug

I do wonder, Sevrin, if any of our advice is helpful to you, since you aren't in the US.

 

[JerryBoBerry]

Yeah, that info is a year out of date, and Netflix has been losing a lot of ground to both Plus and Prime over the course of the intervening months in different ways, mostly because Netflix has shifted its focus to producing more and more of its own content, to make good in its intention, "To become HBO faster than HBO can become us." As that has happened, Prime and Plus have stepped in to pick up what Netflix has set down as far as third-party content is concerned.

That's pretty out of date for Netflix, and possibly for the others.

:snooty: It was just the first link on the search page. They all say the same thing. Here's one from March of this year. Netflix trumps all for amount of content, then Hulu, then Amazon.
http://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/netflix-hulu-plus-amazon-instant-video/

Analysts estimate that Netflix’s content library is roughly double to triple the size of Amazon’s library, though Amazon is making a push to catch up. Netflix’s vault is also larger than Hulu’s library, but the type of content that’s available on Hulu is far more TV-centric than what’s available on Netflix.

 

[Sevrin]

Well, I'm out of luck with respect to Amazon Prime. I have a CDN account, but there's been no hint that their streaming service is coming here.

Hulu Plus sounds very interesting, but I've not had any luck getting around their region block with my current VPN or Hola. I'd be curious if anyone else outside the U.S. had managed.

Otherwise, I could go for Crave-TV from my ISP. Their offerings, other than the HBO stuff are a little slim as far as supplements to Netflix go, but they do have some other shows that aren't on Netflix, like TTSCC, that I'm interested in. Since it's not a lifetime commitment, I'll probably give them a whirl at some point.

 

[JerryBoBerry]

Well, I'm out of luck with respect to Amazon Prime. I have a CDN account, but there's been no hint that their streaming service is coming here.

This also doesn't work outside the US, or even outside of 3 cities in the US currently. But it's something to keep in mind for the future after expansion. Playstation is just starting 'Vue' channels streaming on PS4's and PS3's. It's basically a mix of many of the cable channels combined with on demand airing of past shows. And they've already done one new show exclusive to Playstation called 'Powers.'

If they expand this to other cities and countries they could definitely be a contender to the other three mentioned previously. With no need for computer, just the Playstations already owned by people, it's an attractive concept for streaming on TV's.

http://www.playstationnetwork.com/vue/home/

 

[yummybrownfox]

I saw the announcement on Facebook about Seinfeld episodes coming to Hulu. I must be one of the few people on this planet who isn't a member of Hulu...or Amazon Prime. Haha. I used to have every episode of Seinfeld on dvd, but some years ago I sold the dvd set to some guy on Craigslist to help pay for my Christmas spending. Lol.

 

[Guy]

That's pretty out of date for Netflix, and possibly for the others. Between US and CDN Netflix, you can watch Friends, Suits, Homeland and Criminal Minds. All it takes is switching your VPN location to get both countries feed on the same account.

For international viewers, Hulu is a lot trickier for proxies. For instance, Hola for Chrome doesn't work with them. That's the main reason I've not signed up with them while I've been on Netflix for quite a while now.

ExpressVPN still works with Hulu. https://www.expressvpn.com/