This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Watching Hulu
Hulu is a subscription service that offers streaming of movies, TV series, and original programming from a variety of sources. Hulu started out as a joint venture between AT&T, Comcast, and The Walt Disney Company, but Disney now owns 100 percent.
At its inception, Hulu was conceived as a place to watch recent episodes of current TV series—kind of a “catch-up” service. It still offers access to recent TV shows but has added all manner of other content, including older TV series, movies, and original programming.
What’s Playing?
Like its competitors, Hulu offers thousands of television series, movies, and original programs. Although it has branched out from its original mission, Hulu still offers a significant number of current broadcast and cable/satellite series, with a focus on each show’s most recent episodes. This makes Hulu a great place to catch up on your recent television viewing, and for some people Hulu could replace cable or satellite as a source for live viewing. (You typically don’t have live access to these shows, but can watch the latest episodes a day or so after their initial airing.)
Hulu also offers a decent selection of vintage television series, which makes it a good choice for fans of classic TV. The service also offers a number of current and older movies, but not nearly as many as you find on Amazon or Netflix.
In terms of original programming, Hulu is starting to make a name for itself. You’ll find a number of well-regarded original series, including Castle Rock, Casual, Devs, Future Man, The Handmaid’s Tale, High Fidelity, Letterkenny, The Looming Tower, Runaways, and Shrill. Hulu has not yet delved into original movies, instead focusing its efforts on these and other series.
What It Costs
If you’re watching on a Smart TV or streaming media player, Hulu offers two plans, with and (sort of) without commercials. The basic Hulu plan runs $5.99 USD per month and inserts commercials into the programs you watch. If you want to minimize the number of commercials you see, sign up for the $11.99 USD No Ads plan—but know that you’ll still see commercials on some programs, but fewer of them.
Tech Specs
Most Hulu programming is broadcast in 1080p HD with stereo sound. Some programming, primarily Hulu Originals, are in 4K. The default sound quality is plain old stereo, although select programs are in Dolby Digital 5.1-channel surround sound. Hulu content can be viewed on only two devices simultaneously.
USING HULU
Hulu offers the same type of home screen and menu interface as you find with all the other streaming services. It’s easy to browse or search for the programming you want.
Select the Home tab to view everything that’s on Hulu.
Select a sub tab to view specific content. TV for You and Movies for You display content selected for you. Keep Watching displays programs you’ve previously watched. Other sub tabs display Hulu Originals, Newly Added TV, and so on.
Select My Stuff to view movies and TV shows you’ve previously looked at or watched.
Select a tile to view that show or movie.
If you selected a TV show, select the season and episode to watch; then press the Enter or Play button on your device’s remote.
Select Browse to view programming by category—Networks, TV Shows, Movies, and so forth.
Select Search to search for a specific program.
Select the final tab to configure various Hulu settings.
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