Bill Gates Foundation Investing In Monsanto? >>

<< Yet Another Study Says Counterfeit Products...

by Mike Masnick

Mon, Aug 30th 2010 12:57pm

Filed Under:
content providers, hulu plus, subscription, tv, video

Companies:
hulu

Permalink.

Hulu: We Know That Hulu Plus Sucks, But It's Not Our Fault

from the reading-between-the-lines dept

We were among many, many folks who were completely underwhelmed by Hulu's subscription plan for Hulu Plus. It was $10 for... not much. In fact, new reports are showing that 88% of Hulu Plus content is available via regular Hulu. On the whole, if they are going to lock up content, I'm actually glad to see them keep most content for free, but it's still not clear what additional value they're offering to get people to pay up, and customers are noticing. It seems that Hulu actually recognizes this, however. Consumerist has an email that someone from Hulu sent to an unhappy Hulu Plus customer about the weak selection and the need for ads even though she had paid, and the letter basically admits that Hulu knows Hulu Plus sucks, but they're limited by annoying contracts and they're trying to change it. Yes, it's a bit of a paraphrase, but that's certainly what's implied here:

In the ideal world, we would absolutely love and want nothing more but to be able to get every popular show out there that users love, and acquire the legal rights to stream them across every fancy device imaginable at the price that everybody wants. Unfortunately, due to stringent contract agreements on how content can be shared through certain devices, we are not able to have all of the content that everyone wants at this time.

Of course, this all comes back to the same thing we've said before. Hulu's in such a difficult place because the company needs to keep other companies so happy that it can't disrupt the businesses it needs to disrupt. You simply don't disrupt legacy businesses by working within their guidelines.

71 Comments | Leave a Comment

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments (rss)

(Flattened / Threaded)

JC, Aug 30th, 2010 @ 1:17pm

subtext
I love it because the subtext of that paragraph is so obviously.

"Sorry, we sold our souls to the devil. Turns out he's retarded."

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
robin, Aug 30th, 2010 @ 1:24pm

too much credit
hulu has cried wolf for the last time for me. paraphrasing, "i know it sux, i get it, i don't want to do it, it's not my fault..."

a not so thorough search of this magnificent site turns up a slew of similar entirely consistent stories, here's one:

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090218/1627113821.shtml

may i suggest mike that in the future you drop the dichotomy: if they're being honest they must want to disrupt their patrons, if only said patrons weren't idiots, and get to the heart of the matter...

hulu is nothing more than internet protocol broadcasting, and broadcasters are, of course, fully deserving of your most withering sneer :).

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, Aug 30th, 2010 @ 1:34pm

Re: subtext
Thank you for making my spit my drink out onto my keyboard. :)

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Charles, Aug 30th, 2010 @ 1:34pm

My girlfriend loves Hulu more then Netflix but when I told her it was 10 bucks for just more content she could care less. I guess if they weren't greedy and took out the commercials there would be more interest.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Coach George (profile), Aug 30th, 2010 @ 1:47pm

Why Pay??
88% of the paid content is free.
The paid content still has commercials.
Why Pay??

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
crade (profile), Aug 30th, 2010 @ 1:48pm

Dear Hulu:

You think I give a crap about your excuses?

With Love,

Your ex-customer.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, Aug 30th, 2010 @ 1:50pm

Re: Re: subtext
You shouldn't drink & type....

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Graham, Aug 30th, 2010 @ 2:41pm

Paying because I support Hulu
I had the same experience as the customer who e-mailed them. I've paid, because I wanted to get Hulu on my iPhone and PS3. Paying 10 bucks to be able to cancel my FiOS TV is a great deal to me.
I was also underwhelmed with Hulu Plus' offerings. They have less content than Hulu.

But, I have been a huge fan of Hulu for a while. I don't care, for the most part, what my companies think/want/plan.
Hulu:
Are they offering me a product/service I want? Yes
Are they charging me a fair price (Free/ad supported)? absolutely

Hulu Plus:
Are they offering me a product/service I want? ability to watch TV on my phone/PS3 Yes, tho I want more content
Are they charging me a fair price? 10 dollars, yes.

I'm not pleased with the current product I've been given, but like any other product from a company who has made me happy in the past, I'm willing to give them a little time(a month maybe), to fix the issue. I consider what they have given me so far worth the investment of 10-20 dollars.

They offfered something which could be free for a price, and I considered that price worthwhile for wehat I was getting even though it was possible to get the same content I wanted for free. when I no longer feel like paying for the free content is worth it, I'll stop. It seems like this has been what Mike has been preaching all along.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Cohen (profile), Aug 30th, 2010 @ 4:58pm

Some content "web only"
So I was really excited to get Hulu+. It meant watching stuff on my iPhone instead of dragging my computer on the road.
But the only show I REALLY wanted to watch yesterday on a 3 hour bus ride was Persons Unknown.
But for some contractual reason that show is available ONLY on the web. Not iPhone or iPad.
Why is God's name am I paying for LESS content on the iPhone?
My subscription ends tonight.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Eugene (profile), Aug 30th, 2010 @ 5:38pm

What I learned from the Hulu Plus list of available shows was less that the list was lacking, and more than I don't actually like most TV programs so what the hell should I care whether it's good or not in the first place.

It would be one thing if the people Hulu was trying to make happy was film studios with decades-long back catalogs of impressive footage. But they're not. All they're dealing with are a bunch of idiots who've way overvalued their own crappy products.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Jay (profile), Aug 30th, 2010 @ 5:48pm

And this is the exact reason I believe Netflix or some other start up will disrupt Hulu so badly as to make them irrelevant. They see the opportunities, they just aren't able to jump on it, bringing down the entire system that their overlords want to keep in place.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Karl (profile), Aug 31st, 2010 @ 4:08am

I like Hulu, but there's no way I'd pay for it. I already pay for Netflix, and that's enough for me.

If Hulu simply had the same content, but without the commercials, it might be worth paying for. But there's no way I'm going to pay for Hulu Plus as it stands now.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
DanVan (profile), Sep 1st, 2010 @ 2:01pm

I got rid of Hulu Plus as well b/c the difference between Hulu and Netflix was embarrassing. Netflix is the same price yet ad-free and a MUCH better selection

If Hulu wants to stop the terrible reviews, they need to DUMP the Ads for paying customers and increase their selection

Otherwise, more will decide to stay away

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Sepharo, Oct 9th, 2010 @ 1:20pm

I got a message too
Just asked for my SyFy full season shows and support for android.

Hi Sepharo,
Thanks for writing in and I'm we don't currently have the content you want.
I can tell you that we want to add all of the content we can but there are licensing issue we have to overcome first. As some background, when we launched the free Hulu.com service, we obtained licensing to stream content direct from the PC – and only from the PC. With the launch of the subscription-based Hulu Plus service, we had to start over from scratch and acquire licensing to stream content on TVs, smart phones, and tablets as well as PCs. We tried to get as much overlap as possible (we want it all, of course), but there were some exceptions that we’ll continue to work to resolve. Any time we can push content to Plus, we do and we have heard a lot of feedback about SyFy's content library.
The Droid is awesome and I can tell you that in regards to new devices we intend to move onto as many devices as posisble. Customer demand is really the strongest force in determining which devices will be launched and when, and the Droid users have been adamant in their requests for support.
Plus will be getting better and offering more as we move to Public launch but if you genuinely are unhappy with our service let me know and I'll see what I can do to help you out.
Thanks,
Jordan
Hulu Support

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Frank Z (profile), Nov 11th, 2010 @ 1:04pm

They might as well give up
They might as well hand the reigns over to NetFlix and/or Apple because if they have no unfettered access to episode, they have ZERO competitive advantage. At least with NetFlix, you get the option of waiting for the DVD to come out as a last resort.

I think the content companies are stupid too because the harder they make it to access content, the less likely it will be seen. ESPECIALLY in this era of streaming, YouTube and NetFlix. There's so much content out there that alot of it won't be missed if it's in accessible.

Hulu WAS a great idea. I was paying up until I lost the entire series of episodes I was watching IN ONE DAY. I cancelled the service and went to a better service provider that happens to be free.... torrents. Content companies cannot legitimately call it theft when they have voluntarily withdrawn content from me that I was willing to pay for!

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
patrick huskey, Nov 13th, 2010 @ 7:36pm

hulu
wait a minute here people, netflix and hulu had a secret doorway to ps3 and 360 for over 1 year and that's through a new thing called play on, if you want this on your ps3 or crappy 360 which microsoft embarrassingly remade several times, get play on onto your pc, look up an online guide about how to make it show up on your ps3 and/or 360. my only complaint is why is all the adult swim shows like inuyasha and naruto in a foreign language? hulu please make a language option for the videos in which we desire. oh and hulu.com you may wanna fix that sign up, log in stuff above the search button on the right. because ps3s can't read it. and i'd like to use my ps3 to get to the log in button to add ques. but somehow i found a way over to the log in pg, thanks to google, but please fix it 4 future references.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Gus, Nov 15th, 2010 @ 8:58am

Hulu PLus
Is perfect because it is affordable in price, for only 9.99 you have all the best lines television Fox - CBS etc you can watch an episode as many times as you want.
I buy Google TV and and returned to Hulu and Fancast are blocked, ridiculous, but so is ...
Listen
Read phonetically

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Chimp, Nov 20th, 2010 @ 5:43am

commercials
I got 6 commercials in a 17 min long piece of content. I subscribe to Netflix and just got a trial of Hulu plus. Hulu's interface is better but expecting me to pay a monthly fee to have ads for glade plugins streamed at me is really not worth it. Sources of free TV shows are better even if I cant watch instantly. Netflix delivers content without ads, why cant hulu?

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, Nov 22nd, 2010 @ 11:34am

now i have to buy a tv i cant afford thanks

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, Nov 22nd, 2010 @ 11:36am

and i love how it says "annonymous coward" as a way to push me to putting my information so i can potentially be rushed with fee's and advertisements i dont care for. losers

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Trollicus, Nov 28th, 2010 @ 9:29pm

Re: I got a message too
You can watch Hulu on an android phone.

It takes a little messing around but all you have to do is make hulu think your on a pc(desktop) your user agent string on your browser reports you as a mobile user and locks you out. Just change it to report you as a desktop. There are several tutorials on how to do this online just google them.

As far as Hulu plus is concerned all they seem to do is cut off a lot of the content that used to be free then make you pay for it. No way I'm shelling out $10 or anything so i can watch old re-runs with commercials that are freely available elsewhere. Frankly I was a big fan of Hulu but now I'm going elsewhere as it just makes me mad anymore.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Trollicus, Nov 28th, 2010 @ 9:29pm

Re: I got a message too
You can watch Hulu on an android phone.

It takes a little messing around but all you have to do is make hulu think your on a pc(desktop) your user agent string on your browser reports you as a mobile user and locks you out. Just change it to report you as a desktop. There are several tutorials on how to do this online just google them.

As far as Hulu plus is concerned all they seem to do is cut off a lot of the content that used to be free then make you pay for it. No way I'm shelling out $10 or anything so i can watch old re-runs with commercials that are freely available elsewhere. Frankly I was a big fan of Hulu but now I'm going elsewhere as it just makes me mad anymore.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Trollicus, Nov 28th, 2010 @ 9:29pm

Re: I got a message too
You can watch Hulu on an android phone.

It takes a little messing around but all you have to do is make hulu think your on a pc(desktop) your user agent string on your browser reports you as a mobile user and locks you out. Just change it to report you as a desktop. There are several tutorials on how to do this online just google them.

As far as Hulu plus is concerned all they seem to do is cut off a lot of the content that used to be free then make you pay for it. No way I'm shelling out $10 or anything so i can watch old re-runs with commercials that are freely available elsewhere. Frankly I was a big fan of Hulu but now I'm going elsewhere as it just makes me mad anymore.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Reptile, Dec 19th, 2010 @ 4:24pm

I did not enjoy my Hulu Plus experience. I canceled the trial before it was even over.

My reasons:

* WAY too MANY commercials

* Mcdonalds caramel mocha commercial shows up NON STOP. Enough is enough guys, not only did you make me hate McDonald's but also the actors in that commercial as well.

* Not enough shows

In short.. Hulu Plus is nowhere near where they should be. If I wanted this many commercials to intrude upon watching my shows I would have stuck with the regular ass tv.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Chris, Dec 19th, 2010 @ 5:00pm

Hey dumbasses! NETFLIX!

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, Dec 23rd, 2010 @ 8:21am

Also tried (and canceled) the Hulu+ trial when it appeared on my Roku box. The service dropped out or looped back to a previous show segment quite a few times; forcing me to re-ignore the same commercials several times. And $8 a month for the privilege? Beyond lame.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, Jan 13th, 2011 @ 9:22pm

what a bag of crap this is. I was at the end of a series and now I cant finish it without frggn paying money, I dont have extra cash for this stuff! GRRRRRRRRRR

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, Jan 13th, 2011 @ 9:23pm

Re:
also, I am not an anonymous coward. so fuck you techdirt.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Rob, Jan 18th, 2011 @ 5:26am

Are people forgetting that you pay comcast and other cable companies upwards of $60 to $150 per month for commercials in excess of half the episode you are watching. Remember a show called LOST? There were more commercials than there was episode. Hulu commercials last a total of 30 seconds, thats not even long enough to go drop a duce before the show comes back on.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Tony, Jan 25th, 2011 @ 9:08am

Plus will fail
Plus will fail because all they have going for them is TV Shows that are currently airing. Since most of the broadcasts let you watch the full episodes online anyways, there is no point in spending 8.99 a month for something that offers less than reg Hulu and has commercials (even if they are 30 sec). Hulu has lost their competitive advantage over current TV episodes and should consider selling to Netflix while an offer can still be high.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
justin, Mar 7th, 2011 @ 3:23pm

Re:
you must work for hulu. nice try.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, Mar 22nd, 2011 @ 6:09pm

Criterion Collection .

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Coley, Apr 6th, 2011 @ 9:22pm

BOY DO I FEEL STUPID BUYING THE LATEST ROKU w/HULU PLUS
I herd that the 2100x model of the ROXU (either of the 3 models) would offer Hulu "PLUS" however I thought this would be in addition to HULU that from everything I have read offered on the prior or older model (maybe just firmware upgrade) BUT HULU free IN NOT ON THE NEWER MODEL ROKU.

I'm so glad I found this page. I was getting ready to fork over the VISA card and yahoo'd "whats better NETFLIX or HULU PLUS I think this link was the third down.

I thought the big boys could snuff out us little guys with a big opinion. Glad to ee free speech doing what it was meant to. There are to many similar opinions for merit not to apply.

My VISA card will stay in my pocket for now. I've only looked through plus a little but noticed 3 movies from 2.99 to 3.99 that were also available on NETFLIX. Who in their right mind (as a movie watcher) would pay per movie. Who knows maybe NETFLIX will triple their prices now that we have purchased all these streaming devices.

Maybe they are targeting soap opera fans. They must have a strategy.

I can tell you one thing for sure. I WOULD HAVE NEVER bought this new ROKU BOX XD|S April 6 2011 if I knew ROKU dropped HULU FREE. ROKU must make a royalty on H PLUS's sales. Why else would they drop FREE. When word gets out that HULU FREE is no longer available potential ROKU USERS should look elsewherer...

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Coley, Apr 6th, 2011 @ 9:44pm

Leave it to me to mess that prior post up. When I compared prices of a movie it was NETFLIX to AMZON however my comment that hulu free is no longer available on the new ROKUs is correct. Amazon charges more.

Hey ROKU better be glad that you made the firmware upgrade where your ROKUs usb port now streams usb video and music. Or I would return this box for sure.

I don't want BJ's to blacklist me otherwise this box would go bye bye.

Now all I need to buy is another laptop where all the keys work.

I

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, Apr 29th, 2011 @ 11:06am

Re: hulu
Lol crappy 360? Microsoft remade? There's a new ps3 every two weeks...and they still cant seem to sale enough.

I cancelled my huluplus after 10 minutes. The shows I wanted to watch were all web only which defeated the purpose. If I'm at a pc then i already have 15 sites I can watch what i want for free already. I wanted to stream to my phone all the shows that I miss like Psych which are harder to find on mobile internet. The site is very hit or miss though. Sometimes there are only current seasons, every season but the current, or no season at all. At least with netflix i can get a disc if the season im on isnt available to stream.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Sylar, May 6th, 2011 @ 6:42am

Go for free linker sites instead of crappy hulu+
I decided to try the 2 week trial on xbox.. And was very disappointed. A lot of web only and nothing that I can't get normally on hulu (norm). But I would never pay for a service that shows my tv shows.. I would just check out anoobie.com or fastpasstv.eu or surfthechannel.com for free streaming video of all my shows..

ttyl

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
James, May 11th, 2011 @ 9:54pm

Thanks alot
Thanks alot for all your stupid responses about how they should limit the content and make a reason for paying more.

Now the amount of Hulu Plus content is more like 60-70% while the standard hulu content is 30-40%.

Thanks! keep your suggestions to your self.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Ryan, Jun 2nd, 2011 @ 5:57pm

HULU PLUS LIES
I signed up for two movies they had advertised, first being trainspotting. Well when I signed up both my movies were expired and not available. Well don't freaking advertise them as available to get my to sign up. I'm really missing the point of HULU. Don't know how they will be around much lnoger.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
hpfan, Jun 16th, 2011 @ 10:19am

ijunk
lol no offense, stop wasting your money on apple products.

There weak proccesors Don't live up to intel or AMD, And hardly can be called more then a kids toy. But in thir deffence hulu just a couple years back FINALLY got set up so they can play on laptops. So that does say somthing for their streaming values as it stands. Even on a computer their playback is low rate garbage anyway, so either way youre not missing much, try finding other sites, theres others out there way more updated and without the restrictions hulu suffers and WAY better playback. hulu pretty much sucks.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Stormy, Jun 16th, 2011 @ 10:22pm

is hulu trying to get money for crack?
Shows that were free last week are no longer free. Hulu has always just been a free alternative to Netflix which also kindof sucks. Now I can't even watch the majority of SouthPark re-runs for free. What a joke. I'll have to reactivate my Netflix account.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
netdragon, Jul 7th, 2011 @ 8:33pm

Advertising issues
I know through my own dealings with Hulu that they have issues monetizing their content, and that is part of their problem. Some of their content owners (such as NBC) have less issues. The reason is because they have refused to embrace more advanced advertising technology from other vendors that would improve the value and scabalitiy of their advertising inventory. Instead, they insist that all advertising go through their creative services. They are not equipped to be an advertising company and therefore do a horrible job at monetizing their inventory as evidenced by things like repeating ads. Advertisers just LOVE that (sarcasm). So they are really hurting themselves, and ultimately may go out of business if they don't get their act together and accept outside help on the advertising part.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Dustin, Jul 13th, 2011 @ 2:53pm

Whiners!
Okay folks. I am going to do the unspeakable really quickly. I am going to defend Hulu+. First, it's $8/month. Get over it people. If you can't easily afford that much then you shouldn't be getting luxuries like this anyway. Second- there is a reason why they allow you to have the service for a month for free. It is so that you can see if you want to spend the whopping 8 bucks on the product. Try before you buy. Third, part of what you are paying for with the subscription service is the convenience of having the ability to stream through a number of devices, including mobile devices.

Now for a solution to the problem that is ALSO not going to be popular: stop offering free hulu. It's simple. With the revenue generated from plus membership, hulu would easily be able to renegotiate contracts with its partners because they would be able to offer them a lot of money. Just like Netflix. There is a reason that the Netflix model has not been bettered in any other area of media . It is the best. OFFER the trial service for free. Then if people really want to see their shows they can pony up the $96 they will need to enjoy it for a year. Stop offering the free version, and then those of us who are happy to cough up the cash for hulu+ won't have to deal w/ "web only" BS or ads.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Tom, Jul 24th, 2011 @ 7:29pm

Hulu Plus has too many ads
Way to many ads for subscribers. Very annoying. At least with Tivo, you can skip through the ads. Hulu Plus has way to many ads and commercials. They are making a fortune off of subscriber dues and are getting greedy. Cable companies are losing customers in droves...good luck Hulu.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Beans, Jul 31st, 2011 @ 10:33pm

RE: Dustin and Some more.
Dustin I sort of know where you're coming from, but no. They need to get rid of ads then they can do what they want. Hulu Plus still has ads!?!?! How ridiculous is that. You can't even compare them to netflix because they still have ads. They should also not be charging so much per month. There's a reason why they are only making money off the people who probably forget to opt out of their free trial and then switch it off. If they made it 2/3 bucks a month people would actually do it! Hulu is not smart! Read this review to prove it: http://sensibleculture.com/2011/08/01/what-to-watch-on-hulu-free/

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
kat, Aug 5th, 2011 @ 5:09am

hulu plus
It would be nice even if hulu plus still showed all the context that hulu has but only keep the 6 episodes of popular shows instead of the whole season. That would make it even alot better. On my streaming media device, you can only get hulu plus so I still can't get the current episodes onto the tv and can only either watch them on my computer or ipod.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
SD, Aug 25th, 2011 @ 7:50am

Why I will never buy hulu plus
So beside the fact that I already have a subscription to netflix and a dvr, why would I pay for something that barely keeps up with any of my shows. This is why I didn't mind making a hulu account, but if I need to start paying for something that they were giving me for free for a couple of years, then ( pardon my french but) What the FUCK are they thinking. Don't get me wrong I think some of the hulu plus ideas are great but it sounds like they're false advertising. I MIGHT pay for a hulu plus account if they got all of the shows and was commercial free and didn't re-rout me the show's original host's page. Not only that I've been running into the same problem a few other subscribers have, they'll list a show and then not have any of the episodes. Personally hulu was a great idea, but they took the original and messed it all up. The hulu plus is messing with the regular hulu and why pay for something when I could just do what the hulu site already does ( re-rout me to the original host's web pag).

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
SD, Aug 25th, 2011 @ 8:17am

Re: Whiners!
ur such an ass, and a stuck up prick. hulu was fine the way it was, with maybe the exception of needing more episodes. so looks like ur the cry baby

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Anon, Sep 1st, 2011 @ 3:41am

Free
Pft, Hulu was great when it was free....but if only people realized how easy it is to find any show..any movie with just your handy dandy fingertips and google ; )

Gotta love my google talent ^ ^!

Here's a website..only a few shows for ya...but really its not that hard to find portal sites for any other shows ; )

http://www.free-tv-video-online.me/

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Eric, Sep 4th, 2011 @ 3:11pm

Hulu plus really does blow
Its not just that it has a horrible selection but the streaming is ssuch garbage... Even with an upgraded comcast connection half the time it skips after watching a few episode of anything...

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
William, Dec 30th, 2011 @ 12:55pm

Re: Whiners!
Hey man that is a great idea! I bet if they got rid of free then they could at least cut down ads considerably if not do away with them completely. I was reading some about cable/dish/dsl TV and how costs for sports is a major portion of operating expenses. I don't give a shite about sports so your pay version only idea sounds like a winner to me. Cheap cable TV without all the crap I don't care about. Perfect. I'd give $20 a month for an add-free Hulu Plus with ALL shows offered available on ALL devices. I'd expect to at least be able to have a whole season's worth of shows before any expired. Anyone at Hulu listening?

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, Jan 30th, 2012 @ 6:46pm

Re: Thanks alot
alot is actually not a word. a lot is what you're looking for

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, Jan 30th, 2012 @ 6:53pm

Re: Thanks alot
@ James

Dude, you really need to get a grip on reality. Hulu+ is a disgusting internet scam that is masquerading as a Netflix.

...just sayin. lol.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Nick, Mar 17th, 2012 @ 8:51pm

The thing I find most annoying is that if I have to search around a lot in an episode to find the place where I leff off (the resume feature fails often) they'll keep making me watch commercial as if fast forwarding or reversing the equivlanet of the minutes between commercials is the same as watching all that content. It ends up you having to watch about 8 minutes of commercials especially since their little preview stills menu is so glitchy.

I have Netflix too and love it, however, they don't most current shows and if they do have the series there is often only just enough episodes to get you hooked (with like half a season of shows or less). And there's no telling how long it will take them to get new episodes. They just updated family guys after about what seems 3 years .

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Nick, Mar 17th, 2012 @ 8:54pm

Hulu's ads actually annoy me to the point that Ill just go to the pirate bay out of spite.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Lewis, Apr 9th, 2012 @ 9:52pm

Well, it's some two years later and Hulu still sucks. Tonight I figured I'd give Fringe a try. I kind of assumed it wouldn't be available on Netflix, and it wasn't. Without getting my hopes up I turned to Hulu, where I see five season four episodes. Well, that does me no good, but for being free it's not terrible. What if I were to throw 8 bucks at them to start watching Fringe right now? Win/win, right? Wrong, apparently. I'd get the same five episodes they were offering for free. Five "rolling" episodes, as part of a content library for a paid service. Uhh, nope.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Chad, Apr 16th, 2012 @ 2:19pm

Cancelled my Hulu + Ads Paid account. I thought maybe they would have a more expansive selection of TV Shows, maybe I could watch some of the UK's "Young Ones" or get into "Dexter", false. Hulu is pretty much uselesss... And their paltry offering of movies is offensive.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Chad, Apr 16th, 2012 @ 2:20pm

Cancelled my Hulu + Ads Paid account. I thought maybe they would have a more expansive selection of TV Shows, maybe I could watch some of the UK's "Young Ones" or get into "Dexter" false. Hulu is pretty much uselesss... And their paltry offering of movies is offensive.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Scorch, May 4th, 2012 @ 1:41pm

Pfff
Hulu plus dosn't suck, Hulu itself sucks. A bunch of americans hogging all the good stuff and screwing the international community out of entertainment.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Erik, May 28th, 2012 @ 10:06pm

Boingggg
The previous comment leads me to believe you should have a "Stupid- Doesn't make any sense" button. Hulu is obviously a scam, and the only reason we pay for it is because we only have basic cable but what the freak does being American have to do with anything? Sounds like a jealous European.

*side note: not all Europeans are jealous and ignorant

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
beebop whatthellever, May 30th, 2012 @ 6:54am

Re: cancelled
Oh yes... that was the best thing you did. I barely got through the free trial. This sux...badly.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Richard Puller, Jul 19th, 2012 @ 4:25am

Hulu suck
Holy B@ll5 hulu plus sucks so bad its unreal. Only good thing about it is that its on xbox live but id rather cut off a testicle then keep that worthless piece of dog$HIIITe service

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Subscriber, Nov 28th, 2012 @ 7:04pm

HUH?
Hulu Plus is great. Well was, it's been very laggy the last week or so.

But, if you pay for Hulu Plus for "extra content," clearly you are missing the point completely.

The only reason to pay for Hulu Plus is so that you can watch TV through Hulu in your bedroom, on you phone, on an iPad, or anywhere away from the computer. Who told anyone that they would get extra content? I've never even heard that!

The marketing plan was, step 1) get college kids to use it free, because they usually have a bigger computer monitor in their dorm room than a TV. 2) after it's popular, charge for making it usable in any reasonable way a normal person watch TV ("Plus" is only to access from devices other than your computer).

Although, since it won't play more than 10 seconds without pausing now (even though my bandwidth is the same), I'm ready to cancel my subscription.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Matt, Dec 12th, 2012 @ 5:18am

Yes But
I spent over a year without cable, I was willing to pay the Hulu Plus price because there were only certain shows I watched. They gave me new Family Guy, American Dad, Daily Show and (New-ish) Tosh & South Park.

Now I have cable again... and find myself paying $100+ a month again for channels I don't care about and shows I don't watch.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, Dec 30th, 2012 @ 3:55pm

I hate hulu

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
louis, Jan 3rd, 2013 @ 6:59am

hulu
No such thing as a free lunch.
I prefer you tube at this point.
Commercial TV sucks.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
somebody Over there, Jan 13th, 2013 @ 11:38am

Hulu makes no sense
Doesn't matter anymore once hulu puts into the whole needing a cable subscription to watch, it will die. Hulu+ sucks, Netflix sucks. Reason being is the networks and studios control what gets streamed. Netflix lost too much content for me to keep. Hulu+ forces you to watch 90% of the content on the web. Oh in order to watch on the web you need a up to date flash player. Old computer, PS3? no dice. Not that it matters with the current shows on tv all being staged/fake reality shows I see really no point in any of those things.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
That One Guy, Mar 10th, 2013 @ 6:13pm

Re: Why Pay??
Not all paid content has ads, kids shows dont have ads if you pay.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Chris, Mar 11th, 2013 @ 11:03pm

30 seconds
I downloaded the Hulu Plus for my Xbox, (free 7 day membership). I thought, free for 7 days? Why not give it a shot. However, after seeing Hulu Plus only had 200 Horror/Thiller movies, most of which were complete fucking garbage, and 80ish Science Fiction videos, which were equally worthless, I canceled my subscription within a minute of subscribing. If Hulu Plus is going to carry the same selection of videos as a Public Library, they have rude awakening coming ahead of them if they expect people to actually pay for their service. What a JOKE.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, Apr 27th, 2013 @ 5:52pm

It takes two hours, at least, to watch A 30 minute show.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
ANN JOHNS, May 6th, 2013 @ 4:18pm

SO FAR HULU SUCKS
I PAID FOR HULU PLUS. BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN AN ALL MY CHILDREN & ONE LIFE TO LIVE FAN FOR MORE YEARS THAN I WANT TO MENTION,ALSO A GENERAL HOSPITAL FAN. WHEN THEY TOOK OF THE ABOVE I BOYCOTED ABC,IM SURE IT DIDNT HURT THEM, BUT I DID IT ANY.SO I HAVE BEEN SO DISSAPOINTED IN NOT BEING ABLE TO WATCH FROM THE BEGINNING!!!!SO COULD SOMEONE PLEASE GET THIER _____ TOGETHER AND GET THE SHOWS THAT THEY PROMISED ON LINE,SO WE CAN GET WHAT WE ARE PAYING FOR!!!! AJ.

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, Jun 6th, 2013 @ 8:33pm

I honestly now despise Hulu. The only reason I got it was to watch one piece. And suddenly it says it is going to expire

[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

Add Your Comment

Bill Gates Foundation Investing In Monsanto? >>

<< Yet Another Study Says Counterfeit Products...

Follow Techdirt

A word from our Sponsors...

Hot Topics

New To Techdirt?

Explore some core concepts:

read all »

Techdirt Reading List

Amazon.com Widgets

Techdirt Insider Chat

Great Mizuti: clearly scc, this was the next step in the "if you've got nothing to hide...." argument. at least they're being thematically consistent, amirite? >_

silverscarcat: You know, if I was a senator, I'd tell the NSA to dump the email records of all the supporters of the NSA's programs, not only the Senators, the Reps, their families, their friends, any of their lobbyists and I would filibuster the Senate by reading off..

...The most embarrassing and damning emails that they have on live television so that the news networks (Fox, CNN, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert) could tear them apart.

Great Mizuti: I have to give credit to the Daily Show, they had segments on the NSA in every episode last week. They did not relent.

Ninja: Holy smokes it was EPIC!

100 thousand people

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/18/world/americas/thousands-gather-for-protests-in-brazils-largest-cities.html?ref=global-home

Leigh Beadon: @GM their segment name of "Good News! You're Not Paranoid" was especially great, i thought :)

Great Mizuti: @Leigh definitely. they did not lose their edge with the replacement host (i suppose no sign they should have, same writers probably)

silverscarcat: http://trutechnoid.com/2013/06/17/drm-is-the-future/ - If this is the future, then the future is bleak and gaming will die.

Leigh Beadon: @GM i felt like John Oliver needed a couple episodes to settle into the rhythm and now he's right on point. He's always been good though, and he's slowly bringing a bit of his own flavour to it

but yeah, the writing team is the same i'm sure, just with a different guy delivering (and possibly approving) the jokes

Mike Masnick: btw, i only just discovered last week that john oliver has a weekly podcast. which is awesome

Great Mizuti: @ssc, i could not get passed the second paragraph in that article. run-ons and fragments and grammar, oh my! this is clearly not the official spokesman for the future of the industry.

@mike, does he really?!? i did not know this. seems like something i can't live without now that i know about it.

Mike Masnick: http://thebuglepodcast.com/

silverscarcat: GM, I could barely read the article myself.

John Fenderson: Wow. I seriously think that AJ has finally suffered a complete psychotic break.

Josh in CharlotteNC: Not the first time, John. He's been overdue for awhile.

silverscarcat: Which thread?

Get the Insider Chat!

A word from our Sponsors...

Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here
Name
Email	Get Techdirt’s Daily Email
URL
Subject
Comment	this is for spambots, do not use this
Options	Save me a cookie

Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here
Name
Email	Get Techdirt’s Daily Email
URL
Subject
Comment	this is for spambots, do not use this
Options	Save me a cookie

Tuesday
3:02pm:	Google, Without Admitting It Gets FISA Orders, Files Lawsuit To Challenge FISA Gag Orders (5)
2:29pm:	NYPD Commissioner Blasts NSA Secret Monitoring For Being Secret (7)
1:43pm:	It's Come To This: Commentators Arguing That The Press Commits A Crime In Exposing NSA Surveillance (26)
1:00pm:	US Chamber Of Commerce: Bollywood Is So Successful Without Strong Copyrights That It Will Fail Unless India Strengthens Its Copyrights (32)
11:58am:	Senator Lindsey Graham Defends NSA Surveillance By Arguing About Something Entirely Different (47)
11:15am:	NSA Claims Surveillance Programs Aided The Stopping Of 50 Attacks; Details Lacking (64)
10:31am:	The NSA's Lockbox Has No Lock (44)
9:44am:	Knowing The Government Is Spying On You Changes How You Act (45)
8:44am:	MPAA's Chris Dodd Will Be The Chair Of 'Free Speech Week' (107)
7:46am:	Steve Wozniak Speaks Out Against NSA Spying: This Is Not My America (36)

Hulu: We Know That Hulu Plus Sucks, But It's Not Our Fault

from the reading-between-the-lines dept

Reader Comments (rss)

subtext

too much credit

Re: subtext

Why Pay??

Re: Re: subtext

Paying because I support Hulu

Some content "web only"

I got a message too

They might as well give up

hulu

Hulu PLus

commercials

Re: I got a message too

Re: I got a message too

Re: I got a message too

Re:

Plus will fail

Re:

BOY DO I FEEL STUPID BUYING THE LATEST ROKU w/HULU PLUS

Re: hulu

Go for free linker sites instead of crappy hulu+

Thanks alot

HULU PLUS LIES

ijunk

is hulu trying to get money for crack?

Advertising issues

Whiners!

Hulu Plus has too many ads

RE: Dustin and Some more.

hulu plus

Why I will never buy hulu plus

Re: Whiners!

Free

Hulu plus really does blow

Re: Whiners!

Re: Thanks alot

Re: Thanks alot

Pfff

Boingggg

Re: cancelled

Hulu suck

HUH?

Yes But

hulu

Hulu makes no sense

Re: Why Pay??

30 seconds

SO FAR HULU SUCKS

Add Your Comment

Techdirt RSS

Techdirt's Daily Email Newsletter

I’m looking for policy...

I have an app...

I have an idea...

Hot Topics

New To Techdirt?

Tuesday

More

Company

Contact

Tools & Services

More