Hulu anyone? (Or something similar)

[tmm99]

I am seriously contemplating getting rid of cable. I already got rid of the 2nd cable and got a plastic indoor antenna that cost like $60 (it has been working pretty good so far).

I am now looking at doing the same thing to my main TV, and I am thinking of getting Hulu (most likely Hulu Plus since I have PS3 and PS3 doesn't do free Hulu.), because it looks like this is the closest thing to haveing a cable (in the sense that shows that just aired on TV get posted quickly unlike Neftlifx, Amazon, etc.)

I've been told new episodes get posted on Hulu in a day or two.. Is that true?

Also, is there any alternative to Hulu (in my case Hulu Plus) that is out on the market?

Thank you!

 

[audreyh1]

New episodes are usually posted on Hulu+ the next morning. Occasionally there is a delay.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Best Buy Mobile has a 2 month free trial for Hulu Plus right now. They also have have free trials for Zinio (magazines) and Spotify (music), but we can get Zinio and Freegal (music streaming and downloads) for free with our library cards so I didn't sign up for those.

One alternative to Hulu Plus would be to just connect your TV to the Internet directly and watch whatever shows are on the network web sites from there. Many new shows are posted to the Internet on the network sites the next day or sometimes just hours later. We have a dedicated laptop connected to one TV with an HDMI cable and use a wireless keyboard for the "remote". It works great.

 

[noelm]

Don't have any complaints as such with Hulu Plus. The episode appears pretty quickly (even earlier sometimes). At the same time, I am not a big TV watcher.
Also look at Amazon Prime. I am considering Amazon prime after summer, I get TV + Amazon for $99. I do have to check though what Hulu gives me than Amazon doesn't.

Just want to warn you, your ISP may jack up your internet rate. I have Cablevision and I have been trying to cut the cable for a while, but every time I make a call, they tell me if I cut TV, my internet charges are going up. Alternative Verizon is even more expensive than cablevision.

 

[jowi]

Can you use an antenna to get the channels OTA? Then you could use some sort of DVR type device to record on - hopefully with the ability to fast forward through commercials. Commercials are the reason I would NEVER want Hulu or Hulu+, nor will I watch TV on their websites.

 

[audreyh1]

Can you use an antenna to get the channels OTA? Then you could use some sort of DVR type device to record on - hopefully with the ability to fast forward through commercials. Commercials are the reason I would NEVER want Hulu or Hulu+, nor will I watch TV on their websites.

There are far fewer commercials and minutes wasted on commercials on Hulu+ as compared to OTA or cable. I like being able to watch an OTA episode the next day with 15-18 minutes less of commercials, and on my schedule too!

Guess I'm not willing to mess with a DVR.

 

[tmm99]

Don't have any complaints as such with Hulu Plus. The episode appears pretty quickly (even earlier sometimes). At the same time, I am not a big TV watcher.
Also look at Amazon Prime. I am considering Amazon prime after summer, I get TV + Amazon for $99. I do have to check though what Hulu gives me than Amazon doesn't.

Just want to warn you, your ISP may jack up your internet rate. I have Cablevision and I have been trying to cut the cable for a while, but every time I make a call, they tell me if I cut TV, my internet charges are going up. Alternative Verizon is even more expensive than cablevision.

Exactly! I just signed up for AT&T internet last weekend ($39/mo for 12 months (normally $50/mo - downstream speed up to 6mbs)- they are giving me $150 ViSA reward card (which I could cover the $100 router cost, with some leftovers) because Comcast said if I drop the TV, the internet cost will go up by $14 (Internet is being paid for by work, but $74/mo for their often slow to a crawl speed internet sure isn't worth that.)

Someone mentioned flip flopping between different providers every so many months, so maybe that's what I will end up doing too.

 

[jowi]

There are far fewer commercials and minutes wasted on commercials on Hulu+ as compared to OTA or cable. I like being able to watch an OTA episode the next day with 15-18 minutes less of commercials, and on my schedule too!

Guess I'm not willing to mess with a DVR.

FAR too many commercials for my taste on Hulu - and unlike my DVR, I can't fastforward through them. To each their own - if you like Hulu, great I personally can't stand it - the second I see all those lines at the bottom indicating how many times I'm going to have to be forced to watch an ad, I just want to wait a year for the show to be on Netflix!

 

[tmm99]

One alternative to Hulu Plus would be to just connect your TV to the Internet directly and watch whatever shows are on the network web sites from there. Many new shows are posted to the Internet on the network sites the next day or sometimes just hours later. We have a dedicated laptop connected to one TV with an HDMI cable and use a wireless keyboard for the "remote". It works great.

What you are doing may be something I need to do (or a modification of it if I can find a way..)

I am subscring Hulu Plus for now, but there are some shows that are not on it (ie. The Good Wife - it's one season delay on Hulu+ like with Netflix.) I don't have an old spare laptop though... it would be a drag to drag my laptop over to my TV every time.... Hmm... I have to think about this seriously since I wont' be needing a DVR if I can set this up right...

 

[H2ODude]

I've become incredibly intolerant of ANY commercials. Have Netflix and Apple/Itunes. I realize it's blasphemy here on this site to be willing to pay for something otherwise free, but I will gladly cough up bucks to not have to waste precious time watching commercials for products I'd never use and don't really inform about the product. For current network stuff we have DVR and pretty much record tonight what if anything we want to watch tomorrow night, and zip through the ads. Pretty amazing how many minutes an hour of TV is lost to ads.

 

[walkinwood]

We use netflix and are quite happy with it. Hulu+ will get you more timely OTA programs. We DVR OTA programs, so don't need Hulu+ for that.

 

[W2R]

I am seriously contemplating getting rid of cable.

Believe me, I can relate to that sentiment. Between the (often extremely offensive) commercials and the ridiculously high cable bills, I am beginning to wonder why cable ever appealed to me in the first place.

I am even seriously contemplating getting rid of my TVs completely by not replacing them when they wear out, or if/when I move. I didn't have a TV during most of the 1990's and I could do that again.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

What you are doing may be something I need to do (or a modification of it if I can find a way..)

I am subscring Hulu Plus for now, but there are some shows that are not on it (ie. The Good Wife - it's one season delay on Hulu+ like with Netflix.) I don't have an old spare laptop though... it would be a drag to drag my laptop over to my TV every time.... Hmm... I have to think about this seriously since I wont' be needing a DVR if I can set this up right...

We bought an inexpensive laptop from Sam's Club that is dedicated to one of the TVs. We use the big screen TV like a big monitor. I am not sure we even need the Roku any more on the TV with the lap top.

I bought a new lap top so it would have enough space to hold all the software I needed for iTunes, the library software downloads and the Freegal music videos, since I get to keep those.

We pay for Internet (50 mpbs), Netflix streaming and Ooma for a total of ~$60 a month. We also get basic cable on one TV for the price of the Internet connection alone, but we were prepared to drop cable TV if we had not received it at no extra charge over the Internet cost.

 

[tmm99]

Believe me, I can relate to that sentiment. Between the (often extremely offensive) commercials and the ridiculously high cable bills, I am beginning to wonder why cable ever appealed to me in the first place.

I am even seriously contemplating getting rid of my TVs completely by not replacing them when they wear out, or if/when I move. I didn't have a TV during most of the 1990's and I could do that again.

If you lived without TV for that long like yourself, I bet it would be easy for you to get rid of it all together, as long as you have the Internet since it offers so much content there..

 

[tmm99]

We bought an inexpensive laptop from Sam's Club that is dedicated to one of the TVs. We use the big screen TV like a big monitor. I am not sure we even need the Roku any more on the TV with the lap top.

I bought a new lap top so it would have enough space to hold all the software I needed for iTunes, the library software downloads and the Freegal music videos, since I get to keep those.

We pay for Internet (50 mpbs), Netflix streaming and Ooma for a total of ~$60 a month. We also get basic cable on one TV for the price of the Internet connection alone, but we were prepared to drop cable TV if we had not received it at no extra charge over the Internet cost.

I only have 6mbps download speed, but I had no issues watching TV episodes from my laptop. I am still considering getting Roku though... I wish network websites gave out all shows, but I guess they know better. They don't. There is a missing link on some of the shows (I cannot get them from Hulu+ and I don't think I could from Roku either..) but considering that I will be saving like $60+ / month, I cannot complain...

 

[calmloki]

FAR too many commercials for my taste on Hulu - and unlike my DVR, I can't fastforward through them. To each their own - if you like Hulu, great I personally can't stand it - the second I see all those lines at the bottom indicating how many times I'm going to have to be forced to watch an ad, I just want to wait a year for the show to be on Netflix!

Just so. Colbert and Stewart are on Hulu, and some other things, but it really feels like cable tv, only the ads are faster and repeat multiple times through a show - the same ad, over and over and over and over. We've Netflix, Hulu+, and Amazon Prime and Netflix is by far the least offensive.

 

[robnplunder]

I have Netflix and waiting for it to go UHD.

 

[photoguy]

There are far fewer commercials and minutes wasted on commercials on Hulu+ as compared to OTA or cable. I like being able to watch an OTA episode the next day with 15-18 minutes less of commercials, and on my schedule too!

A normal 1 hour show would have ~20 minutes of commercials. Does this mean on hulu plus you only have a few minutes total per episode?

 

[pb4uski]

I've become incredibly intolerant of ANY commercials. Have Netflix and Apple/Itunes. I realize it's blasphemy here on this site to be willing to pay for something otherwise free, but I will gladly cough up bucks to not have to waste precious time watching commercials for products I'd never use and don't really inform about the product. For current network stuff we have DVR and pretty much record tonight what if anything we want to watch tomorrow night, and zip through the ads. Pretty amazing how many minutes an hour of TV is lost to ads.

+1 having a DVR has spoiled me. I rarely watch live TV anymore unless I have something on for just background noise.

 

[Greencheese]

I dropped cable for a year last year to save money to pay off debt. I wound up creating a large subscription base of YouTube channels and going to various network websites to catch the couple free episodes that they would offer from time to time (ComedyCentral and SouthPark really kept their stuff up to date for what I wanted). Got cable again after knocking out my debt last June and I'm already planning on going back to being cableless in June!

I have friends who grew up without cable and it was tough. However with so many online options I don't think its difficult at all these days. But to each their own, and I know that sports its the one thing that cable still has a strong grasp on.

 

[tmm99]

I wanted to give everyone an update as to what I ended up doing. All your comments/feedback/input helped in my search for a cable-less solution!

I still do subscribe to Hulu+.

I got an AverTV (which is a TV tuner for the computer that works with Windows Media Center that comes free with Windows7) and a channel changing remote (this remote sealed the deal for me since I didn't want to be going to my computer every time I needed to skip commercials, etc.)

Amazon.com: Avertv Hybrid Volar Max TV Tuner Kit for Windows MTVHVMXSK: Electronics

Amazon.com: Ortek Windows 7 Vista XP Media Center MCE PC Remote Control and Infrared Receiver for Home, Premium and Ultimate Edition: Electronics

I stream the antenna picked up TV shows (Indoor antenna fromt Costco) via HMDI cable from my computer(Windows Media Center and AverTV tuner) to my TV, and with a remote, I can change the channels, pause, etc from my couch. It's sort like having a Tivo, except I can only record one show at a time.

So whatever the TV shows not available on Hulu+ (ie. The Good Wife (current season), Ellen (not just clips)), I can record it on my computer via AverTV/antenna.

I was initially thinking of getting a DVR, but this cheaper setup ($56 for the AverTV and $12 for the remote, plus the cost of the HDMI cable (I already had the HDMI cable..)) works great for me.

And... (drum roll pleeeze...) I have cut the cable!!

 

[walkinwood]

Congrats! Great solution! And for another $56 and a cable splitter, you can upgrade to a second recording channel if you wish.

 

[truenorth418]

I may look more closely into Hulu. There are a lot of internet-based options these days, including simply watching the latest episodes of your favorite shows the next day on the network's website. A lot of old-time classics are available for free in youtube or other video aggregator sites.

The trouble for many, including myself, is that there are no good options for internet providers. I have to rely on the local cable monopoly (Time Warner). When they almost doubled the price of my service overnight without notifying me, the best I could do was call to cancel the TV portion of my package since I needed to keep the internet piece. I did find that they were willing to make a deal with me though so I kept the basic local channels and upgraded my internet speed at lower overall cost than I had originally.

It will be interesting to see how the cable industry shakes out in the next few years but I suspect they will maintain virtual monopoly control over internet service in many markets.

 

[REWahoo]

Some recent info on cutting the cord:

A new report from Experian Marketing Services, a consumer data services firm, says that about 6.5% of American households have cut the cable cord, meaning they've canceled their cable or satellite television subscriptions while keeping high-speed Internet services. That's about 7.6 million homes that are doing without cable television service, up from 4.5%, or 5.1 million homes back in 2010.

In any household that includes at least one member of the millennial generation, the 18 to 34 age group, the figure rises to 12.4%, from 4.5% in 2010.

In any household that has a subscription to Netflix or Hulu, the figure rises to 18.1%, from 12.7% in 2010.

The key, not surprisingly, is streaming video. Those who watch video on any device -- phone, tablet, or television -- are much more likely than others to eliminate cable television service.

But interestingly, the final deciding factor in cutting off cable television service is getting that big screen in the living room hooked up to the Internet.

Minyanville: Cord cutting trend is not Comcast's friend

 

[someguy]

Companies like Time Warner, Comcast, etc. that have both bandwidth and pay TV will simply raise their profit in internet/bandwidth to offset losses in profit on the pay TV side.

I'm curious if anyone has found a reliable way to watch sports (soccer, for example) without CATV?