# Do Hulu Plus subscribers actually have less commercials?



## nrnoble

The claim is that Hulu Plus subscribers watch less commercials, but it that really true. And if there are less commercials, how much less?

I'm a bit skeptical when Hulu marketing info states that paying subscribers help keep costs down. The reality for all advertising business models is to maximize profits through advertising. If Hulu has companies buying ad time for for TV series XXX, I can't see them turning down money because they have a policy of only couple minutes (or whatever) of ads for paying subscribers. I would suspect that if they could match the networks with 18-19 minutes of of ads per hour, Hulu would do it.


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## NorthAlabama

*no*.

you have the added pleasure of paying extra for commercials when you subscribe to hulu+!

before my comments generate angst, let me add that my opinion is not based on scientific or measurable data, only my horrid two failed attempts to subscribe and enjoy programming using hulu+.

there were frequent unpleasant glitches, like never ending commercial loops halfway through episodes that prevent finishing the show, repeat airings of the same commercial over, and over, and over again, ad nauseum, and little effort on the part of hulu+ to support the product.

my opinion is completely biased.


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## jrtroo

While there may be less adds, they are more annoying as you cannot fast forward through them. In addition, if you drop out of a show and then resume, it will force an initial add on you all over again.

No Hulu+ for me. Much prefer the netflix model, and there is plenty of content to skip the annoyances of Hulu.


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## allan

Never tried Hulu+, but I found free Hulu to be not worth the price! Even with fewer commercials, they seem very annoying, and I don't trust them not to increase the number of ads. If I'm going to pay, I don't want ads, especially unskippable ones.


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## atmuscarella

I have used both (Hulu & Hulu+), for shows that are on both I don't think there are any less adds on Hulu+ versus Hulu. However there are some shows/movies on Hulu+ only and the movies do seem to have less commercials (have seen a few without commercials). I also have not found much use for Hulu+ but do use Hulu (via a HTPC attached to my home theater setup) and do find it useful at times.


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## Scyber

I've figured out a way to skip commercials in hulu plus. It has worked 100% of the times I've tried, but it is a bit of an annoying process (button combination to stop the stream and then restart) that I'd rather just watch the short Hulu+ commercials and not have to touch the remote. But I was so spoiled by Commercial Advance that any time I have to touch a remote to skip commercials I get annoyed.


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## rayik

We have Hulu+ because of: HD and larger back catalogue of shows we watch. To me, HD is necessary on a large screen. (We also watch it using a Roku rather than Tivo due to the bad Hulu Tivo app)


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## pdhenry

Ad breaks on Hulu are shorter than the corresponding ad break on TV. Where TV breaks may have four or more ads (2 minutes or longer in duration) ad breaks on Hulu are usually one or two ads (30-60 seconds).

It's not as nice as being able to skip the ad on a DVR but if I had recorded the show I would not be watching on Hulu+.

My TiVo tends to skip over Hulu+ ads on its own. I watch The Daily Show on Hulu+ because I only have limited basic cable. 80% of the time the show goes to an ad break and then the show resumes after 4 or 5 seconds without showing an ad. Neither my Blu-Ray player nor my Roku exhibit this behavior.


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## jhilla

I would prefer HULUPLUS ads over normal TV ads any day. Depending on the show you pick that max ad you might see if 2 or 3. Normally we see about 2. If you load a movie then none. The ads are remarkably small and short in comparison to TV ads that seems to be forever! If broadcast and cable want to survive they need to take a close look at how Hulu does business and mirror that design. This way a subscriber is not so quick to hit FF. Hulu is even making a change that many of the kids programing ads have been eliminated. Also if you have not taken advantage of this offer, just fill in the form to take Hulu for a 6month trial. We finished our trial last Christmas and have been more than happy to pay the $7.99 a month. It's worth it, but don't take my word for it see for yourself and then you be the judge. That is unless you prefer the standard 2 week trial.

http://www3.tivo.com/promo/huluplusoffer/code/index.html


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## rfryar

I used PlayOn through PyTivo to prefetch my shows from Hulu, Hulu+ as well as Redbox instant. That allows me to skip past the commercials.

I think the commercial loop is a Hulu problem. I see it on my Roku, Tivo, Android native app as well. However I do not encounter it with my PC streaming the show to PlayOn.

Sorry do not mean to be a "fanboy" of that solution but it has worked very well for my uses.

Rick


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## scandia101

atmuscarella said:


> However there are some shows/movies on Hulu+ only and the movies do seem to have less commercials (have seen a few without commercials).


Less (actually, it's fewer) than what?


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## atmuscarella

scandia101 said:


> Less (actually, it's fewer) than what?


less commercials than Hulu.

Amazing as this might sound some of us actually try to help the person posting a question by trying to answer it.


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## SeaFractor

I got sick and tired, yes truely tired, of seeing "Web Only" for many of the new shows and other content I was interested in.

If I watch exclusively on my PC, I get the exact number of adds and I stopped paying for Hulu+.

So "Free" Hulu and "pay" Hulu+ deffinetely have the same number of commercials. You are simply paying for the benefit of using a non-PC appliance for access. That benefit also only extends to content Hulu had received streaming rights to other than just PC. The number of "Web Only" notices are due to content that had not been renegotiated or was too expense for the full meal-deal versus "Web ONly".


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## scandia101

atmuscarella said:


> less commercials than Hulu.
> 
> Amazing as this might sound some of us actually try to help the person posting a question by trying to answer it.


But if they are only on Hulu+ as you stated, you can't compare the commercial time to Hulu.


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## scandia101

SeaFractor said:


> I
> 
> So "Free" Hulu and "pay" Hulu+ deffinetely have the same number of commercials. You are simply paying for the benefit of using a non-PC appliance for access.


and content that isn't available via free Hulu


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## atmuscarella

scandia101 said:


> But if they are only on Hulu+ as you stated, you can't compare the commercial time to Hulu.


To some extent that is true as Hulu does appear to very the number and duration of commercials depending on the show. But in general I thought the Hulu+ only shows tended to have less minutes of commercials than the Hulu only shows or shows that were available on both. Of course I do not use Hulu that much and only turn on Hulu+ now and then so my observation is based on a very limited number of shows.


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## scandia101

atmuscarella said:


> less commercials than Hulu.
> 
> Amazing as this might sound some of us actually try to help the person posting a question by trying to answer it.


Fewer

I'm sorry that you are so offended over my using the correct word.
It was a simple correction meant to help you and the others that were misusing the word less. Some people can graciously accept help.


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## scandia101

atmuscarella said:


> To some extent that is true as Hulu does appear to very the number and duration of commercials depending on the show. But in general I thought the Hulu+ only shows tended to have less minutes of commercials than the Hulu only shows or shows that were available on both. Of course I do not use Hulu that much and only turn on Hulu+ now and then so my observation is based on a very limited number of shows.


No, it's 100% true. When the question is about the number of commercials on plus vs free Hulu, you can not say something that is only on plus has fewer commercials because there is nothing to compare it to.


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## aaronwt

nrnoble said:


> The claim is that Hulu Plus subscribers watch less commercials, but it that really true. And if there are less commercials, how much less?
> 
> I'm a bit skeptical when Hulu marketing info states that paying subscribers help keep costs down. The reality for all advertising business models is to maximize profits through advertising. If Hulu has companies buying ad time for for TV series XXX, I can't see them turning down money because they have a policy of only couple minutes (or whatever) of ads for paying subscribers. I would suspect that if they could match the networks with 18-19 minutes of of ads per hour, Hulu would do it.


While there are less commercials during a Hulu program. Something like 3 minutes to 7 minutes of commercials for an hour long show. It is much less than the 22 minutes of commercials per hour for a broadcast show.

I actually watch more commercials with Hulu+ than I do from a broadcast recording since I skip over them with my TiVo. WIth Hulu+, many of the commercials are 15 seconds to 30 seconds so I don't mind watching them. But when they are 1 minute long, that is too long. But even still I am more likely to watch those minute long commercials than commercials from a recording made with my TiVo.


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## SeaFractor

scandia101 said:


> and content that isn't available via free Hulu


It's possible that I didn't use Hulu+ to it's fullest extent then. All the shows that I like to watch, including the latest episodes from the primary carriers, are available on Hulu.

I don't dispute that there could be some content no longer available to me, but I suspect that's the Hulu generated content and some of the movies recently added.


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## swinca

The commercials on Hulu plus really annoy me. I complain about them but I don't cancel. Now that All My Children is about to debut I will probably keep it.


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## atmuscarella

scandia101 said:


> No, it's 100% true. When the question is about the number of commercials on plus vs free Hulu, you can not say something that is only on plus has fewer commercials because there is nothing to compare it to.


Sure there is, it becomes a relative/overall comparison instead of one about a certain show (and by the way I believe Hulu changes the number/amount of commercials over time even for the same show). Just like I certainly can say the amount of commercials played during an show on Hulu+ is less than the amount of commercials played during the same length show on any of the OTA commercial networks.

Of course if someone wants to know if for the same show at the same moment in time if the number and length of commercials is the same while playing the show through a Hulu+ account as it is while playing it through a Hulu account, well then I can not answer that as I have never tested it out and I am guessing very few people have.


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## marrone

How much more content is available on Hulu+ vs free Hulu? Is it merely longer archive of old episodes, or is there much more?

I am currently using Hulu on a Media PC that I bought connected via HDMI to my 55" TV. Someone mentioned HD isn't on the free Hulu, but I was able to watch Celebrity Apprentice last week in HD.

What does it offer? I haven't been able to figure that out yet with all the marketing hype.

Thanks
-Mike


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## MikeAndrews

As long as Hulu has it so you get the same 90 second block of commercials when you do a jump back I'll avoid as much as possible. I can't imagine a better form of customer prevention.


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## atmuscarella

marrone said:


> How much more content is available on Hulu+ vs free Hulu? Is it merely longer archive of old episodes, or is there much more?
> 
> I am currently using Hulu on a Media PC that I bought connected via HDMI to my 55" TV. Someone mentioned HD isn't on the free Hulu, but I was able to watch Celebrity Apprentice last week in HD.
> 
> What does it offer? I haven't been able to figure that out yet with all the marketing hype.
> 
> Thanks
> -Mike


When you access Hulu on a PC via a web browser you can see all the content. If the content is Hulu+ only it simple will not play and you will see a notice that a Hulu+ account is required to view it. I do not believe anything streamed through Hulu is actually in HD - the best I can select is High quality which is not HD. When/If you are a Hulu+ member you can specifically select HD for shows that have an HD stream available.


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## mr.unnatural

This thread echoes one of the many reasons why I don't use streaming services. If services like Hulu+ didn't charge me for their service and then force me to watch commercials I might consider using them. The fact that I can't skip past the commercials takes them out of consideration for any type of service I'd be willing to pay for. 

I can get any show I want without being subjected to commercials. If I don't have a channel as part of my FIOS Xtreme HD package (or whatever they're calling it these days) I can find programs elsewhere in HD with AC-3 soundtracks and no commercials. In fact, I can usually get a new show downloaded to my PC in less than 15 minutes.


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## mattack

So you're arguing for breaking the law.. great


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## pdhenry

netringer said:


> As long as Hulu has it so you get the same 90 second block of commercials when you do a jump back I'll avoid as much as possible. I can't imagine a better form of customer prevention.


Can't say that i've noticed that on Hulu+. IME you can skip forward over the previously-viewed ad blocks. No?


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## mr.unnatural

mattack said:


> So you're arguing for breaking the law.. great


No. I'm not recommending that anyone break the law to obtain TV programming. I'm just stating the obvious that it's out there with no commercials and no fees. I have no problem with Hulu+ or any other internet service charging for TV programming. I do have a problem with them forcing me to watch commercials on top of it.

If they provided the shows commercial-free then it would be a worthwhile service. If they want to keep the commercials intact then we should be able to view the programs for free. Otherwise, they're double-dipping and collecting fees from both the subscribers and the advertisors. It's corporate greed at it's highest. What really ticks me off is that the programming is mostly available for free via OTA and is easily recorded with the ability to skip past commercials. I refuse to pay for any service that holds me hostage during a commercial break.


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## pdhenry

I remember in the 80s having the same thoughts about USA Network - how can it be a cable network and have ads? Aren't I already paying a fee to the cable company to watch it?

Then I realized that their profit model included subscription revenue plus advertising revenue. _Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose._


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## MikeAndrews

pdhenry said:


> Can't say that i've noticed that on Hulu+. IME you can skip forward over the previously-viewed ad blocks. No?


When I watched on a computer, when I backed up I got the SAME 90 second worthless commercial block - every time.


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## SWFan

My experience using Hulu and Hulu+ for about three months.

With Hulu you can only watch the shows on a computer, it includes ads, and you have full access to all the content Hulu has to offer.

With Hulu+ you pay a monthly fee so you can watch Hulu on mobile devices including devices hooked up to your TV. It includes the same amount of ads, but the kicker is you DON'T have access to Hulu's full library, there are many web-only shows.

So, for paying customers you get less content, but more places to play what content you want. For free you get more content, but limited to playing on a computer.

I guess it's up to you whether you're paying for Hulu to watch select shows on mobile devices or to watch any show you want, limited to a computer.

I chose to drop paying the fee. Honestly in 4 months about 60% of what I wanted to watch I could watch, the other 40% would not play through my Tivo due to content restrictions on "mobile" devices.


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## atmuscarella

SWFan said:


> With Hulu you can only watch the shows on a computer, it includes ads, and you have full access to all the content Hulu has to offer.


This is not true there is a significant amount of content on Hulu.com that can only be viewed in you have a Hulu+ account.



SWFan said:


> With Hulu+ you pay a monthly fee so you can watch Hulu on mobile devices including devices hooked up to your TV. It includes the same amount of ads, but the kicker is you DON'T have access to Hulu's full library, there are many web-only shows.


When someone pays for a Hulu+ account they get the follow: 

Access to content that is only available with a Hulu+ account
Access to HD content
The ability to stream/view some content on devices other than a computer, such as a smart phone, tablet, or a TV.



SWFan said:


> So, for paying customers you get less content, but more places to play what content you want. For free you get more content, but limited to playing on a computer.


Again not true, if you access content on a computer with a Hulu+ account you have access to more content than a person without a Hulu+ account. The same is true for other devices with a Hulu+ account you have access to some content (not as much as if you accessed it through a computer) where a person without a Hulu+ plus account has access to nothing.


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## Bob_Newhart

I read that Hulu Plus was looking at eliminating commercials. Do they still have them at this point?

I signed up for a free month of Netflix to see how it compares to Amazon Prime and it seems like they have many of the same shows available so I'm not sure I'll stick with it after the trial ends.

I can't check Hulu Plus at work but do they have a free month trial available? I figure this month will be a good one to check out the different services.


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## pdhenry

Bob_Newhart said:


> I read that Hulu Plus was looking at eliminating commercials. Do they still have them at this point?


yes.


> I can't check Hulu Plus at work but do they have a free month trial available? I figure this month will be a good one to check out the different services.


Not a month AFAIK, but here's a deal from August that may or may not still work.

I can refer you for the regular 2-week trial and then I'd also get 2 weeks and that adds up to a month if that works for you


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## Bob_Newhart

I found this deal that says you can get a free month if you sign up with PayPal. I may check that out at home tonight.

http://dealnews.com/Hulu-Plus-1-Month-Trial-for-free-with-Pay-Pal/855642.html


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## MikeAndrews

Until they kill the commercials - and more, playing the SAME commercials every time you jump back - there is no advantage to Hulu Plus over regular Hulu with Chromecast. 

F them.


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## Bob_Newhart

I'm mainly interested in a free trial of Hulu+ during December to catch some Christmas episodes of Bob Newhart, Mary Tyler Moore, and WKRP. That's assuming these are all available through my Roku and not via computer only.


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## scandia101

MikeAndrews said:


> Until they kill the commercials - and more, playing the SAME commercials every time you jump back - there is no advantage to Hulu Plus over regular Hulu with Chromecast.
> 
> F them.


How can there be no advantage to having access to more content???


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## scandia101

Bob_Newhart said:


> I'm mainly interested in a free trial of Hulu+ during December to catch some Christmas episodes of Bob Newhart, Mary Tyler Moore, and WKRP. That's assuming these are all available through my Roku and not via computer only.


Of the shows you listed, 0 of them have any content available via Hulu+ that Isn't also available on free Hulu.


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## late for dinner

I have no problem with commercials in Hulu +, the're short and on older shows they have only a few at worst.

In conjunction with Play-on, a sweet service.


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## jgametest

To watch entire series on Hulu you must be plus, if you want to watch on your Tivo, or Mobile Devices you need Plus. Recently the old HuluDesktop application went dead and times out with an error indicating it's not longer supported. This leaves users with understanding to use newer versions or www.hulu.com for access. Even Plex pulled their app as Roku released an official HuluPlus application.

www.hulu.com/kids
Hulu Kids is commercial free.

We have been a HuluPlus subscriber since Last Christmas when our 6month trial ended which came with our Premiere XL during a promo with purchase.

http://www3.tivo.com/promo/huluplusoffer/code/index.html (CLOSED) 

More importantly if there is a series or movie that is missing we have support to send information for a license attempt to add to network. And lately those channels have been very quick. A group of us send multiple request for BBC programing such as Doctor Who, TorchWood, Sherlock, Red Dwarf and more and our request was granted in a huge way.

http://www.hulu.com/companies/bbc-worldwide

To add your request simply hit
www.hulu.com/discussions/6
There is some free content but it's very limited.


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## scandia101

jgametest said:


> TEven Plex pulled their app as Roku released an official application.


What do you mean by "as Roku released an official application"?
There is no official hulu app for Roku, there's only hulu+


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## Bob_Newhart

Okay, I got the free one month Hulu Plus trial last night and watched a few old TV shows with Christmas themes. I watched a Bob Newhart, Mary Tyler Moore, ALF, and something else. I was disappointed that more seasons of each show weren't available. I checked several other shows and many times they'd only have one season available. Was really disappointed they only had the last few episodes of The Simpsons available.

For each show I watched they had 3 separate 1 minute commercial breaks (2 ads each break). Several were repeated (Academy Sports and some car ad or something with elves came up a few times).

Overall, I doubt that I'll continue with Hulu+ after my free trial. There just isn't enough available that Amazon Prime & Netflix doesn't already have. And Netflix doesn't offer enough extra stuff that Amazon doesn't already have. I really wish that at some point these companies would all merge into one huge streaming service with every episode of every show and every movie available for streaming.


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## jgametest

The entire series of ALF is there, Rhoda is only showing (1) season they are missing the remaining 4 seasons. If a show has the entire list you hit seasons and then look for the one you wish to play. With X-files it goes from 1-9. It basically depends on the need of viewers and then licensing to acquire it. Same thing with the Star Trek franchise you can start from the beginning to Enterprise in it's entirety. Even Lost Season 1-6

Now besides browsing by name or show you could just hit the networks individually. Time consuming but an option:

http://www.hulu.com/tv/networks..

Then again scanning choices by way of genres might be easier.


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## Bob_Newhart

Yeah, ST:TNG all seasons are available on Amazon and I've started watching those the last couple of months. Same with X-FIles. It'd be nice if every episode of every show that was on a DVD was available to stream.


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## late for dinner

Bob_Newhart said:


> Yeah, ST:TNG all seasons are available on Amazon and I've started watching those the last couple of months. Same with X-FIles. It'd be nice if every episode of every show that was on a DVD was available to stream.


I finished 2.5 men (the Charlie EP) and moved on to ST:TNG a few weeks back. I started on Hulu+ but decided to watch them on Netflix with no commercials


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## pdhenry

I have Hulu+ mostly for Comedy Central shows like TDS and Tosh.0.


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## MikeAndrews

Bob_Newhart said:


> Yeah, ST:TNG all seasons are available on Amazon and I've started watching those the last couple of months. Same with X-FIles. It'd be nice if every episode of every show that was on a DVD was available to stream.


Really? Cool. I added ST:TNG on BBC America HD to my DVR and have been running out of space. I have 21 hours saved of eps saved.

It's amazing how many episodes I either don't remember or never saw.


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## Bob_Newhart

Yeah, until I got Amazon Prime a couple months ago and started watching TNG, I was never really into it. I didn't even know it was shown on BBC and then I starting recording from there since it looked more like HD. It is filling up my Directivo too much, though.


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## PalmTrees

I just tried out Hulu Plus and found that, on TV shows, it gives you two ads of about 30 seconds each. Sometimes on regular Hulu I would get ad blocks of 3 ads, AFAICR.

Also, I started watching a film (selection is mostly older, offbeat) and the time bar did not indicate ad breaks.



nrnoble said:


> The claim is that Hulu Plus subscribers watch less commercials, but it that really true. And if there are less commercials, how much less?
> 
> I'm a bit skeptical when Hulu marketing info states that paying subscribers help keep costs down. The reality for all advertising business models is to maximize profits through advertising. If Hulu has companies buying ad time for for TV series XXX, I can't see them turning down money because they have a policy of only couple minutes (or whatever) of ads for paying subscribers. I would suspect that if they could match the networks with 18-19 minutes of of ads per hour, Hulu would do it.


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## PalmTrees

I agree. There's a significant amount of films (mostly offbeat stuff) that are only available on Hulu Plus. Example - I helped someone find a foreign film they'd been looking for a long time on Hulu Plus (it was not available on regular Hulu). (Incidentally, that same film was also not available for streaming on Netflix or Amazon Prime.)



atmuscarella said:


> This is not true there is a significant amount of content on Hulu.com that can only be viewed in you have a Hulu+ account.
> 
> When someone pays for a Hulu+ account they get the follow:
> 
> Access to content that is only available with a Hulu+ account
> Access to HD content
> The ability to stream/view some content on devices other than a computer, such as a smart phone, tablet, or a TV.
> 
> Again not true, if you access content on a computer with a Hulu+ account you have access to more content than a person without a Hulu+ account. The same is true for other devices with a Hulu+ account you have access to some content (not as much as if you accessed it through a computer) where a person without a Hulu+ plus account has access to nothing.


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## PalmTrees

Amazon has quietly 'stolen' a lot of content away from Netflix and placed it on Prime over the past year... A lot of discovery channel, science channel, history channel, BBC America, etc., is no longer on Netflix.

Just do a Google search on (Netflix licensing cable network) to see a raft of stories on it.



Bob_Newhart said:


> Yeah, until I got Amazon Prime a couple months ago and started watching TNG, I was never really into it. I didn't even know it was shown on BBC and then I starting recording from there since it looked more like HD. It is filling up my Directivo too much, though.


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## mattack

pdhenry said:


> I have Hulu+ mostly for Comedy Central shows like TDS and Tosh.0.


Aren't all of these free on Comedy Central's own sites? (Does Hulu Plus have FEWER commercials?)

I have watched the cut off *end* of a few Colbert Report episodes on Amazon Prime (no commercials) since I had too many shows recording at midnight. (I really really should try turning off clipping at some point, maybe after I actually get a 6 tuner Tivo.)


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## pdhenry

Maybe, but its a PITA to watch website videos on my TV.


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## Bob_Newhart

I've been sick in bed with the flu since Thursday and have been watching a lot of TV. Turns out that it was a good move to sign up for the free month trials of Netflix & Hulu Plus. I definitely decided to cancel the Hulu after the trial because most of the shows I found myself watching were available on Netflix and Amazon Prime and without commercials. The ad that kept repeating for me was one with a guy inside of a store telling people to switch to Cricket.

Maybe Hulu is best for watching more recent TV shows but since if there is a recent show I want to watch I would have tivoed it, then it's not worth it to me. If they ever do eliminate ads then I might consider it but then only for older TV shows (Mary Tyler Moore, etc)


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## poppameth

I just got Hulu Plus setup on my PS3. Video quality on most of the shows I've watched has been pretty bad, and I'm on a good fast cable connection. I've consistently gotten two ads every 10 minutes so far. If I wasn't getting it free I don't think I'd be willing to pay for it.

For anyone that doesn't know, you can get free Hulu Plus through Bing Rewards.

It takes me about 5 minutes a day of random searching to rack up enough points for free Hulu Plus every month. I also signed up with the Paypal link to get the first month free.


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## dlfl

poppameth said:


> I just got Hulu Plus setup on my PS3. Video quality on most of the shows I've watched has been pretty bad, and I'm on a good fast cable connection. I've consistently gotten two ads every 10 minutes so far. If I wasn't getting it free I don't think I'd be willing to pay for it.
> 
> For anyone that doesn't know, you can get free Hulu Plus through Bing Rewards.
> 
> It takes me about 5 minutes a day of random searching to rack up enough points for free Hulu Plus every month. I also signed up with the Paypal link to get the first month free.


Hmmm... that's around 2.5 hrs/month to save $7.99/mo. I guess it depends on how much you enjoy random searching with Bing and what else you have to do with your time. I'm retired but I still think I'd rather just pay the $$.


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## poppameth

5 minutes is probably an over estimate. I haven't really timed it. I just search for something and then click on the related search links in the right column until I hit my quota of 30 searches a day. Doing it that way probably takes about 2 minutes. I wouldn't recommend actually using Bing as a search engine by any means. Just milk the system for rewards. If nothing else, do the searches during Hulu commercials. You'll have more than enough time! 

Last night I was getting three ads every ten minutes. The ad breaks seem to always be 1 minute whether that is two or three ads. What I find the most annoying is that they put them in exactly every ten minutes regardless of what is actually happening in the show. You can be right in the middle of a fast action scene and get cut off for ads. These shows were designed to have commercial breaks at certain points. Why not use those natural breaks?


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## steve614

Your just starting to figure out what the rest of us already have...

Which is not to even bother with Hulu Plus.


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## jbluemke

How is Hulu? I was debating on cutting down my cable bill and using Hulu but i doubt that is the way to go


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## Bob_Newhart

Hulu is an excellent way to catch up on commercials you can't FF through.


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## atmuscarella

jbluemke said:


> How is Hulu? I was debating on cutting down my cable bill and using Hulu but i doubt that is the way to go


If you can receive ABC, CW, NBC, & Fox from an OTA antenna, Hulu+ is a pretty bad deal, if not then it would make some sense. I can get all those networks plus CBS, PBS & Ion in HD via OTA so for me Netflix and/or Amazon Prime are a better deal for the same or less money.


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## shwru980r

Hulu + and Tivo are largely incompatible, since most people use Tivo to skip commercials, but Hulu + forces you to watch commercials.


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## windracer

Bob_Newhart said:


> Hulu is an excellent way to catch up on commercials you can't FF through.


Tonight's episode of the Simpsons even poked fun at this. Homer said: "If I wanted to pay to see commercials I couldn't skip I'd get Hulu Plus!"


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## Edmund

No matter what service you have you pay for commercials you can't skip. Don't kid yourself.


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## LoREvanescence

Some nights when I'm watching stuff on Hulu Plus on my Apple TV I get no commercials in a hour longer program, or just one commercial break with two 20 second adds. I have seen a lot less commercials over the last month or so which has surprised me.


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## Chris Gerhard

I record the free Hulu using PlayLater and by using playback through Plex on any HDTV in house Plex provides 30 second skip forward and 15 second skip back, skipping commercials works great. I don't know how powerful a PC is required, I am using an old Alienware 15x with Intel i7-740QM, something much less powerful probably wouldn't cut it but of course that is a 3 year old chip and not much by today's standards. I did try running it with an older Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz and it didn't work well enough to use. The 15x is dedicated to PlayOn/PlayLater/Plex and TiVo Desktop, although at some point I will find an inexpensive adequate desktop to replace it when it breaks. Hopefully not for a few years.

We are watching season 8 of Bones recorded from Hulu now, the first Hulu commercial shows the total commercial break time upper left, the right combination of 30 second skip forward and 15 second skip back and within a few seconds, the commercials are gone.

I did use Hulu+ for a free trial, primarily for the Criterion Collection a couple of years ago. I recall most, maybe all of those movies were promoted as having limited commercial interruption and the ads were very few and not annoying at all to me. I also feel certain that there were fewer ads overall with Hulu+ than the free Hulu. Today, I would likely just skip commercials with either service, with the rare exception when the first ad catches my attention and is something I want to see.

I use Google TV as the Plex playback client although I think Roku should work, I just don't like the Roku Plex channel nearly as well as the Google TV 99 cent Plex app.

Overall, I think Hulu and Hulu+ are both good for cord cutters.


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## Scyber

Their are 2 "features" of Hulu+ that I find useful:

1) Not having to commit to a new show till after its been renewed. I can wait till a show has been renewed and start watching the first season then. Nothing annoys me more then getting into a show only to find out its been cancelled halfway through its first season. I don't waste DVR space stockpiling episodes that I won't watch.

2) Conflict resolution: If I have a tuner conflict that can't be resolved, any show that is available on Hulu+ will typically fall off my DVR record list. Obviously not a major issue for most of the people on this forum (who probably have multiple DVRs and many tuners), but its a nice feature if you have limited tuners.

I typically put my Hulu+ subscription on hold during the summer and sometimes over the holidays (when there aren't many new shows). So I typically only pay for 9 or so months a year.

Not being able to FF through ads is annoying, but there aren't nearly as many as broadcast (it has increased a bit recently). And as I have said before, not having my DVR automatically skip ads is even more annoying.


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## shwru980r

Chris Gerhard said:


> I record the free Hulu using PlayLater and by using playback through Plex on any HDTV in house Plex provides 30 second skip forward and 15 second skip back, skipping commercials works great.
> 
> I use Google TV as the Plex playback client although I think Roku should work, I just don't like the Roku Plex channel nearly as well as the Google TV 99 cent Plex app.


Wouldn't the built in logitech media player work just as well?


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## dlfl

Chris Gerhard said:


> ..........
> I use Google TV as the Plex playback client although I think Roku should work, I just don't like the Roku Plex channel nearly as well as the Google TV 99 cent Plex app.
> .........


Chris, do you know if that Google TV Plex app works on the Logitech Revue?


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## Bob_Newhart

I canceled my Hulu Plus and today they sent me confirmation of this and told me I can still watch my favorite shows on the free *ad-supported *hulu.com site. I thought that was kind of funny.


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## shwru980r

dlfl said:


> Chris, do you know if that Google TV Plex app works on the Logitech Revue?


I have the Plex app installed on a logitech review and it works.


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## MeWannaMyBBC

I'm a low income guy on a fairly bad Internet connection, I gave up my cable several years ago and have found myself missing many of my favorite shows. Hulu Plus gives me access to a lot of current shows that Netflix does not have. The bummer is that many of those shows are only available for five of the most recent episodes. This is not about Hulu this is about the content providers and their licensing. Content providers are scrambling to try to figure out how to maximize revenue in a confusing digital world. I believe that part of the reason that many current shows are on Hulu and not Netflix even if in fewer episodes is because of commercials. It's no secret that Netflix has lost many titles since more services have come online, and that is because they no longer have a monopoly.
I currently subscribe to both Netflix and Hulu plus, and find that there is a lot of content on Hulu Plus but is not available on Netflix, and vice versa. On my less than ideal Internet connection I do find that Hulu Plus is a bit faster, with better video quality, than Netflix on the same connection. While I am no big fan of commercials especially on a service that I pay for I do find that it's worth the money for me. An interesting sidenote, the X-Files are, at least for now, commercial free on Hulu plus. I have to think that the content provider is paying something to make this possible because it's a popular show even all these years later. For what it's worth I watch both Netflix and Hulu plus on a AppleTV streaming to my television. YMMV.


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## eboydog

My complaint against Hulu+ is that there are commercials, when you pay for streaming content, you shouldn't have to see advertisements esp political ones, the only political presidential ad I saw from the last election was for Obama after paying for Hulu plus and it was also the last.

I cancelled it the day I started when the shows were interrupted with commercials, ok sure if it free that's one thing but paying a monthly fee for commercials isn't acceptable for me.


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## MeWannaMyBBC

eboydog said:


> My complaint against Hulu+ is that there are commercials, when you pay for streaming content, you shouldn't have to see advertisements esp political ones, the only political presidential ad I saw from the last election was for Obama after paying for Hulu plus and it was also the last.
> 
> I cancelled it the day I started when the shows were interrupted with commercials, ok sure if it free that's one thing but paying a monthly fee for commercials isn't acceptable for me.


If you have cable or satellite you're paying a lot more per month for commercials. What's the difference?


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## Chris Gerhard

dlfl said:


> Chris, do you know if that Google TV Plex app works on the Logitech Revue?


I missed the question originally but you did get an answer which I can confirm, yes, Plex works fine on the Revue in my experience. I like the Sony models better and have retired my Revue after using it two years. The better processors and better codec support with the Sony NSZ-GT1 and NSZ-GS7/GS8 make those boxes better than the Revue for my needs.


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## eboydog

MeWannaMyBBC said:


> If you have cable or satellite you're paying a lot more per month for commercials. What's the difference?


True in a sense but cable is not offered.for free on a advertising model, its apparent that Hulu's advertising model doesn't work as otherwise the pay version wouldn't have commercials inserted.

True there is slightly more content for the paid + version but givin the cost, I was very disappointed to be buying ads and commercials streamed to me.

I would resubsribe if the paid version didn't include commercials, seems to work for Netflix, why not Hulu?

We pay a premium for TiVo service to avoid the commercials and watch tv on our terms, we pay for internet access, enough is enough, why pay more just to have more commercials? It's one thing to expect commercials with the free version, paying to have yet even more is too much.

There was a time when people said the same about cable tv, as why pay when its free over the air? As a result cable companies offered more channels, more choices such as movie channels to add value for the paid service, you raise a good point because I HATE the national networks on cable that flood me with commercials and then take in on themselves to censor the movies and decide what parts of a movie I should see. I love kmttg for the fact I can take a TiVo recording, download it, strip the commercials and send it back to my TiVo.

Just because all the crap commercials are thrown at us 24/7 doesn't mean we have to accept it as business as normal, my god if I have to see any more vaginal mesh lawsuit advertising I will scream! This my household and I, not some corporation media will make the final choice of what is brought into my home.


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## HarperVision

eboydog said:


> ......... but paying a monthly fee for commercials isn't acceptable for me.


 So why do you have TiVo? (Pause ads, home screen ads, etc)


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## Chris Gerhard

eboydog said:


> True in a sense but cable is not offered.for free on a advertising model, its apparent that Hulu's advertising model doesn't work as otherwise the pay version wouldn't have commercials inserted.
> 
> True there is slightly more content for the paid + version but givin the cost, I was very disappointed to be buying ads and commercials streamed to me.
> 
> I would resubsribe if the paid version didn't include commercials, seems to work for Netflix, why not Hulu?
> 
> We pay a premium for TiVo service to avoid the commercials and watch tv on our terms, we pay for internet access, enough is enough, why pay more just to have more commercials? It's one thing to expect commercials with the free version, paying to have yet even more is too much.
> 
> There was a time when people said the same about cable tv, as why pay when its free over the air? As a result cable companies offered more channels, more choices such as movie channels to add value for the paid service, you raise a good point because I HATE the national networks on cable that flood me with commercials and then take in on themselves to censor the movies and decide what parts of a movie I should see. I love kmttg for the fact I can take a TiVo recording, download it, strip the commercials and send it back to my TiVo.
> 
> Just because all the crap commercials are thrown at us 24/7 doesn't mean we have to accept it as business as normal, my god if I have to see any more vaginal mesh lawsuit advertising I will scream! This my household and I, not some corporation media will make the final choice of what is brought into my home.


The Hulu Plus model is add revenue plus a monthly fee, that is not evidence an advertising based model has failed, it is a different model and what Hulu will do long term with either service isn't clear to me. Neither service is knocking the world on its ears right now. The free Hulu provides programming licensed for PC access only, Hulu Plus is a different licensing arrangement with the content owners.

I suspect the partnership, NBC, Fox and ABC (Disney), all of which offer ad funded channels don't want to offer a service with no ads for a fee, the fear would be the companies that pay for the network broadcasts might not be happy if the same programs provided with commercials can be watched ad free the next day through Hulu Plus. I don't think Hulu will go to a strictly fee based model as a result of the primary business the companies are in.

You don't like the Hulu Plus service since it includes ads, don't subscribe, this isn't very complicated. I don't like paying for smart phone data service so I don't subscribe to a smart phone data plan, never have.


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## eboydog

HarperVision said:


> So why do you have TiVo? (Pause ads, home screen ads, etc)


They only slipped that in in the last 2 or 3 years and they failed to ask me first.  no I don't like to be offered great deals of Bounty paper towels in the midst of pausing my recordings. If there was a way to remove them I would but as we all know life is full of compromising when you have no other choice.

I have a Tivo because the alternative is worse, if it wasn't for Tivo we wouldn't have DVR's, we would be held even tighter under the rule of the cable companies. Some choice is better than no choice.


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## CrispyCritter

eboydog said:


> They only slipped that in in the last 2 or 3 years and they failed to ask me first.


I know it's not your main point, but TiVo has had ads for almost its entire existence, and has had plans for ads from the beginning (targeted advertising was part of its early dog-and-pony fund-raising show.) I don't think they had any actual ads until a couple of years in, say 2002.


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## HarperVision

eboydog said:


> They only slipped that in in the last 2 or 3 years and they failed to ask me first.  no I don't like to be offered great deals of Bounty paper towels in the midst of pausing my recordings. If there was a way to remove them I would but as we all know life is full of compromising when you have no other choice. I have a Tivo because the alternative is worse, if it wasn't for Tivo we wouldn't have DVR's, we would be held even tighter under the rule of the cable companies. Some choice is better than no choice.


 But you said:


eboydog said:


> ......... but paying a monthly fee for commercials isn't acceptable for me.


 .....so apparently it's "acceptable" with some caveats, right?


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## lessd

CrispyCritter said:


> I know it's not your main point, but TiVo has had ads for almost its entire existence, and has had plans for ads from the beginning (targeted advertising was part of its early dog-and-pony fund-raising show.) I don't think they had any actual ads until a couple of years in, say 2002.


I don't find the TiVo ads to be any problem, if I hit pause I want the program to stop for a reason, like leaving the room, if I want to read what on the screen I push clear, takes the TiVo ads off. If that helps TiVo stay in business and make more money (or have less loss) good for them, as I still can save about 25% to 30% of my time watching a network program, and save about 4 minute or more when watching HBO by skipping the intro and end credits. I have not found any way around streaming ads, that why I don't use OD unless Mr. Obama announces say the killing of Osama bin Laden at 10:45 pm and cuts off my network program, then I have to deal with OD to watch that last 15 minutes.


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## NYHeel

HarperVision said:


> So why do you have TiVo? (Pause ads, home screen ads, etc)


Because it's completely different. Ads don't bother me by themselves. They only bother me when they get in the way of what I want to do/watch. Tivo's ads don't get in the way at all.


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