Instant Netflix v.s. Hulu Plus

(Before reading this, please read this)

First off, forget about paying for cable.  Hulu is a wonderful thing.  They have a lot of content you get to watch for free, with limited commercial interruptions   That's important.  I don't get upset at the commercials while watching shows on Hulu because we have to watch commercials at home on regular TV anyway, so the fact that I get about half as many on Hulu is actually a huge improvement.  Now on an unrelated issue, I do get upset if I have to watch a commercial before watching a YouTube video or video of similar style because often those videos didn't have the production and whatnot of an actual television show which needs to be paid for....anyway the point of all this is that with the upcoming fall TV show premiers (which I'm super excited about, as you read about last week) I want to be able to check these shows out.

Right now, this week, I'm excited about TV.  Next week or maybe the week after, I won't be anymore.  That's just how I do it.  I go on "kicks" of things.  I couldn't stop eating hummus every day for a few months, then got sick of it.  I'm not a big TV guy so this TV kick is a new one for me.  Anyway, I have a Playstation 3, which I use to stream Netflix instantly for a small fee.  Hulu has a similar product called Hulu Plus which allows you to watch "premium" content on your computer, phone, gaming devices and internet-connected TVs and set top boxes like Roku.  Man, I sorta want Hulu Plus.  According to their website, there is thousands of TV shows available to stream for just $7.99 a month, the same price as Netflix.  Part of the premium-ness of it is that you get to choose from every episode in a season, which includes the current season that is airing, as opposed to the free version where you only get the five newest episodes.  Also with the free version you can't watch the stuff on your phone, ps3, set top box etc.  With Netflix, you only get whatever is out on DVD, not stuff that aired, like, yesterday, as you can on Hulu.

But here's my catch, and they are rather significant.  While I really, really want Hulu Plus to be great, there are many reasons why I think it's a lesser product than Netflix. Hulu has it's free option and Netflix does not, that's a win for Hulu, in general.  However, with the premium Hulu Plus, you still get ads.  Commercials placed right where commercials are supposed to be.  That's stupid, why am I paying for this then?  Also, I have downloaded the Hulu Plus PS3 app, which has a bunch of sample videos to try it out for free.  It has a random episodes of shows like The Office or 30 Rock.  The problem is every single time I have fired it up, it has not once worked.  It just sits there loading.  Is my internet speed too slow to handle the massive Hulu Plus video?  I don't know but I've never, or very very rarely have had a problem with Netflix streaming.  If I could just see how the thing would work without actually signing up for a free trial, I'd consider a free trial.  But the thing just doesn't work.

 (Additionally, how come there are commercials on cable TV, anyway?  Wasn't/isn't that the point of cable?  You pay for it instead of having advertisers pay for the content, or at the very least less commercials?  Pay-Radio is commercial-free, why not TV?)

The third problem, and it's a biggie; about half of the content on Hulu is only available to stream on a PC through a web browser.  The content is specifically licensed to only be streamed through a PC, and they don't have the license to offer it anywhere else (like my PS3.)  Which shows are "blacked out?"  I don't know, but that's a big problem to me.  What if I pay for it and I can't watch anything I want on there?  Pardon my language but fuck that shit.  Also, I guess fourthly, word of mouth.  I know exactly zero people that have told me how much Hulu Plus rocks their socks off and I need to get on there.  The only thing I've heard someone say is "people actually pay for this shit?"

 I'll just take my chances and watch Hulu for free on the computer when I have some time to kill.  In the mean time, i'm sticking with Instant Netflix because it's what I already got, and the stuff on there is acceptable.   In reality, most of the shows I want to watch are on networks, which I have for free in my living room, or are available at some point on Hulu anyway.  Sometimes I have to wait 30 days for a new episode of whatever, and that's something I'm willing to do.  TV just isn't that important.  I just like to watch it sometimes, for as cheaply and easily as possible.  And that answer is antenna and Netflix  (which is all in HD, by the way.)