Thumbs Down To HULU

Hulu Is A Big Disappointment

Yesterday, I signed up for HULU Plus.

I am tremendously disappointed.

Maybe I’ve been spoiled by Netflix. Maybe I have unrealistic expectations. Maybe I just landed from outer space.  But the bottom line is I’m very disappinted by Hulu, and I’ll tell you why.

Hulu Shows Ads! Yuck!

I’ve grown very fond of watching TV shows on Netflix.  I can watch an entire episode of a show, and not see a single ad.

I’m currently paying Netflix $7.99 a month – I think I’m grandfathered in to that rate – new subscribers will pay a buck more, I think. And that’s the exact same rate that Hulu charges.

The biggest difference is that Hulu shows me ADS before, during, and after an episode.

If I were prone to livid ire, I would be lividly irate at the fact that here I am paying them money, and they still have the gall to show me ads!

Even worse, you cannot skip or fast forward through the ads. At least when I record broadcast TV on my ChannelMaster, I can fast forward through the ads.

Hulu Doesn’t Have The Shows I Want

The biggest drawback to Netflix is there are no current TV shows. IF they carry a TV show, you can only see it up through the previous season.

I looked at Hulu free several years ago, and from that experience, I had thought I could see almost any show I wanted, any of the latest three episodes for free, and the entire series from the beginning with a paid account.

By the way, the paid accounts used to be called “Hulu Plus.” This name is still used on many devices, such as the Roku streaming player. However, when I signed up on their site yesterday, there was no reference at all to Hulu Plus. It was all just plain Hulu, so maybe the free option has gone away.

With the “watch any show” concept in mind, I signed up for Hulu, hoping to be able to watch all of my favorite shows, without having to worry about weather interference on broadcast TV.

Again, disappointment.

They do have Blue Bloods available, but I was unable to find NCIS (which is available on Netflix), NCIS LA, NCIS NO, Madam Secretary, Elementary, Zoo, Under The Dome, or any of a number of other shows I would prefer to watch.

To be fair, they do have a large number of other shows I would be happy to watch, they just don’t have the current shows I want.

Hulu Is Difficult To Navigate

Again, perhaps I’m spoiled by Netflix. Or just used to it.

First, it is quite difficult to find a specific show you’re looking for, although in the process of looking you might find several others you’d like to see.

However, if you want to find a specific episode of a certain show, you’re in for a struggle  And if you want Hulu to help you keep track of which episodes you’ve watched, like Netflix does, well forget it. You have to track that on your own.

Hulu Doesn’t Show Episode Duration

Another thing Netflix does that Hulu doesn’t – and I MISS it! – is Netflix shows on its thumbnail views the duration of each episode. Usually about 23 minutes for a “half hour” show, and 43 to 46 minutes for a “one hour” show.

Hulu doesn’t give any clue how long each episode lasts. This may be because they want to pelt me with more and more ads, but still, it is a feature I wish they had.

I’m  Cancelling Hulu – Probably

I have already set an alarm in my phone for five days from now to cancel my Hulu account before they start charging me money for it.

I intend to spend some time on it between now and then, and it might be that I get used to it, and learn to accept those irritating ads (which, to be fair, are much shorter than those shown on broadcast TV), and I might decide to keep the subscription.

However, as of now, I’m planning to cancel before my free week is up.

The TV adventure continues.

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