Hulu, Netflix Escalate Rivalry with Original Series

[admin]

Hulu, the online streaming bastard-child of ABC, Fox and NBC is launching a salvo at competitor Netflix with the announcement of its own original scripted series. Netflix' highly anticipated new show Lilyhammer hits the stream early next month. Hulu CEO Jason Kilar says the company will pour about half a billion dollars into original TV shows in 2012. It's part of the rapidly growing company's new aggressive attitude, making a stand against its rival. Hulu has been quietly growing in the wake of recent Netflix difficulties and now proudly boasts one and a half million subscribers just a little over one year into its existence. Hulu's first scripted series, a political comedy, will go online next month just in time for the Republican primary.

Discuss "Hulu, Netflix Escalate Rivalry with Original Series" here. Read the article.

 

[nickboros]

Hulu is still missing the point. Why would I pay $8 a month for a service where I have to watch ads, when I can pay about the same price for Netflix and not watch any ads? If Hulu gave the option to have slightly less content for $8 to $10 per month and it didn't overlap with Netlix's content that much, I would definitely subscribe to it.

 

[lsiberian]

Hulu is still missing the point. Why would I pay $8 a month for a service where I have to watch ads, when I can pay about the same price for Netflix and not watch any ads? If Hulu gave the option to have slightly less content for $8 to $10 per month and it didn't overlap with Netlix's content that much, I would definitely subscribe to it.

8 dollars is a small price to pay for access to a bunch of TV shows. I could care less if they add commercials. Cable TV adds commercials to pay tv too.

 

[Wayde Robson]

I'd honestly be interested in reading a side-by-side comparison of all the major streaming services today.

Unfortunately I can't get them from Canada so I can't give an unbiased look.

 

[lsiberian]

I'd honestly be interested in reading a side-by-side comparison of all the major streaming services today.

Unfortunately I can't get them from Canada so I can't give an unbiased look.

I combine them as an alternative to cable.

 

[gholt]

I combine them as an alternative to cable.

I never thought of that that might be a good idea.

 

[nickboros]

8 dollars is a small price to pay for access to a bunch of TV shows. I could care less if they add commercials. Cable TV adds commercials to pay tv too.

I avoid having cable or satellite subscriptions, just because of this. Before there was streaming or anything like that I set aside $50 to $70 per month, so have a Netflix subscription, and with any other money left over just buy the DVD (movie, TV series or whatever). I don't really watch much sports, so this was fine for me, because I just want to be able to watch what I want when I want and not 7 minutes of a television and 5 minutes of commercials and then repeat. Now many years later I have a pretty large collection of DVD's and Blu-Ray's, while if I would have had the cable subscription for $50 to $70 per month, I would have nothing to show for it. Now that we have a streaming option like Netflix, I am very happy with the content that I can have between streaming and discs in the mail. But the idea that I should pay for content and still watch commercials seems ridiculous to me.

 

[Nestor]

I'd honestly be interested in reading a side-by-side comparison of all the major streaming services today.

Unfortunately I can't get them from Canada so I can't give an unbiased look.

Hate Hulu, since they block all of their content up to Canada, even their free embeds.

Frustrating.

 

[Wayde Robson]

I can't get Pandora up here either, even Netflix in Canada is different... as far as I know.

I'd drop Rogers in a second if subscribing to the online NHL Game Center Live (online) got me all the games... but it doesn't. It only gets me the games that aren't licensed for rebroadcasting anywhere in Canada. That means half the games, especially the good rivalries, don't work on the NHL Game Center, they're blacked out!

Even getting cable doesn't get me all the games because there are games spread across three or four different networks, TSN, Sportsnet and LeafsTV and CBC. You get CBC with basic cable or over air and Sportsnet comes with the basic HD package, but TSN I and II plus LeafsTV are both premium channels you pay extra for.

It's crazy, all those channels together are way too much money. I just want hockey games! Dammit! All in one place, I don't want to have to subscribe to different services and different networks to do it.

I have decided to do without this year and have dropped my cable to the very basic because they stopped letting me buy TSN I a la carte. I draw the line even if it means I miss a few games. To get TSN I and II I have to subscribe to a big package which gets me a bunch of channels I don't want. In fact I don't even want the sports networks, I just want the games.