Episode 185: Hulu Plus [Discussion]

[jackierulesall]

The insanely popular website, Hulu.com, moves away from the web and launches Hulu Plus for the iPad, iPhone and soon to be other devices. But it comes with a catch, a monthly subscription fee and ads within the content. Is this the right move? Ron Richards and David Prager debate whether or not there are any pluses to Hulu Plus.

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[cupajo]

I don't disagree with Rob's complaints about Hulu Plus, but I'm still interested in checking it out. Yes, $10 a month for ad-supported content kind of sucks, especially when I can watch older stuff for free with streaming Netflix. But I wouldn't mind paying $10 for Hulu if I can see newer content a little sooner, even if I have to sit through a few commercials. I already pay way more for that for basic cable + TiVo, which is money I will save if I start using a Hulu Plus on my XBox or whatever.

[rottnkorpse]

I agree completely with Ron...it isn't about the money it is about the fact they are charging for the service AND making us watch ads.

The internet has had a business model for a LONG time that defying it just pisses off the community as a whole.

It has always been a setup where websites, videos or whatever else needs to make money so it has ads but if you dont want he ads you can pay a small fee and get rid of them...it has been like that for years and thats how Hulu should approach it.

I understand that DirecTV has a premium and commercials but that has been the model all along which we are used to unfortunately but on the internet it works differently and they are still trying to do the OLD TV Model and that is what I think pisses us off...they are claiming to be a new form of tv but they are using an old horrible model.

[davmoo]

I don't necessarily object to commercials, and I realize they are, sometimes, a necessary evil. What I object to is their placement. Put 'em at the beginning or the end, and I'll watch them. But nothing breaks up the flow of a show or movie like interrupting it for a commercial. And this is why the 30-second skip button is the most worn button on my TiVo.

[cupajo]

Originally Posted by rottnkorpse

I agree completely with Ron...it isn't about the money it is about the fact they are charging for the service AND making us watch ads.

The internet has had a business model for a LONG time that defying it just pisses off the community as a whole.

I agree to a point. Here's the caveat. Yes, the internet has had this "business model" for a long time, but it's a business model that, in most cases, doesn't work. That is to say, the people who put these various web services together have to find a way to make money on them or the services go away. The vast majority of new websites never figure out a way to do that and end up collapsing in on themselves.
Also, as far as I've been able to gather, plain old free Original Recipe Hulu isn't going anywhere. It might not get new content as fast as Hulu Plus (I imagine) and they aren't going to open it up to "couch friendly" devices like PS3 or XBox, but you'll still be able to use the basic free service on your laptops or PCs. I could be wrong about that, not entirely sure.
If they DO leave that in place, that caters to people like you who don't want to pay a monthly fee for ad-supported content. But Hulu Plus would cater to people like me. I want to sit back on my couch and watch the newest episode of Burn Notice on my TV through my XBox using the same Harmony remote I use for everything else. I don't want to hassle with an HTPC and a little keyboard and mouse to do it. And I don't mind paying $10 a month, even if they stick some ads in there, especially considering I'm (hopefully) going to be able to dump a $50+ cable bill and a $14 TiVo bill.

[alphaman]

This episode wasn't a review of the app, but the business model; I was disappointed, as there's still plenty in the app to gripe about. I tried to watch just one of their few free movies and I had to restart it several times. Worse yet, the app didn't remember where it left off, so you had to start over from the very beginning of the first ad in the video. Yuk!

I'm not a fan of the business model (either ads OR paid, but not both), but I'm even less of a fan of the app!

[steveymacjr]

I think Hulu Plus is going to fail... it only includes three network(ABC, FOX, NBC)....
It doesn't even include America's most watched network(CBS)... so the way I see it, Hulu is just trying to get you to pay for low rated crap shows, that no one wants to watch even if they are free over the air...
BTW i wanted to point out that the guy on the left gave some wrong information...he stated that CBS was on HULU..they are not...
CBS's TV.com app is pretty darn good and the commericial interruptions are very limited...how come there is no review of that app?