How To Stop Hulu From Recording Sports

Image: Jared Newman / IDG

In the cutthroat earth of cord-cutting, the best options don't ever get the most customers.

Example in point: Hulu + Live Television, whose three.7 million subscribers brand it the most pop cablevision bundle replacement today. That's despite a DVR service that'south objectively worse than nearly all its competitors. Different rivals such as YouTube Telly and Sling Idiot box, Hulu won't let you skip ads in recordings without paying actress for the privilege, and it doesn't support watching recordings while they're yet in progress.

I feel compelled to bring this up after last week'south column, in which I cheerily proclaimed that live Idiot box streaming services had shed the bizarre DVR restrictions that in one case made them feel like second-rate cable alternatives. In hindsight, I should have made a bigger deal of how Hulu is the distressing exception to the rule.

At its base price of $65 per month, Hulu + Live TV lets you record up to 50 hours of alive Telly, with no time limit on how long those recordings are available. Only to skip through commercial breaks, you must pay an extra $10 per month for Hulu'due south "Enhanced Cloud DVR" add-on, which also gives you 200 total hours of recording time.

Hulu's DVR upcharge seemed reasonable when its prices were lower—the live TV service originally toll $40 per month when it arrived in 2017—and when other services had their own recording limitations. But as those services' DVRs have matured, Hulu hasn't kept up.

YouTube TV, for case, used to prevent advertisement skipping on whatsoever show that had an on-demand version bachelor. Information technology ended that practice for most channels in 2018, and for all channels in 2019. Sling TV used to charge $5 per month extra for DVR service that couldn't tape certain channels, but after added a free DVR tier and lifted those restrictions. DirecTV Stream (formerly DirecTV Now, then AT&T TV Now, then AT&T Television set) launched without DVR service, simply added one after two years.

By dissimilarity, Hulu's advertizement-skipping add-on finer creates a hidden $x fee for anyone who expects a typical DVR experience. String-cutters shouldn't stand for it, not when YouTube Idiot box and FuboTV are both charging the same $65 per month for unrestricted DVR service.

In-progress recording restrictions

If the advert-skipping restrictions weren't bad enough, Hulu is also the only live TV streaming service that doesn't permit you sentinel recordings while they're still in progress. Recorded programs don't appear in your DVR list until subsequently they're over, and if you load the programme from Hulu's aqueduct guide, y'all can only jump straight to the live feed.

Jared Newman / IDG

Even if y'all're recording a plan that'south still in progress, you tin can only watch it alive.

This limitation applies regardless of whether you have Hulu'due south Enhanced Cloud DVR improver. So, even if yous're paying extra for advertizement skipping, you lot can't use the DVR to watch a alive show on tape-filibuster, and then cut through the commercials.

Again, no other live Goggle box streaming service has this trouble. YouTube Goggle box, Sling Television, FuboTV, Philo, and DirecTV Stream allow permit you to immediately sentry recordings in progress and skip through commercial breaks. FuboTV and Philo fifty-fifty have a dandy feature where if y'all start recording from the middle of a bear witness, you can immediately watch it from the kickoff, complete with ad-skipping privileges.

"Beginning Over" annoyances

Equally a minor consolation, Hulu does allow you rewind, fast forwards, and jump to the offset of some live programs without having to record them at all.

But this "Start Over" characteristic lacks the ad-skipping capabilities of an actual DVR. Whenever you try to skip past a commercial break—or if yous just country on a commercial pause while rewinding—you'll have to terminate and spotter the ads, even if you're paying actress for ad skipping with Hulu's Enhanced Cloud DVR.

Jared Newman / IDG

Hulu's "Start Over" characteristic requires you to sit through commercial breaks.

Even worse, the availability of this "Start Over" feature is completely unpredictable. ESPNU, for case, lets you scout alive shows from the commencement, but other ESPN channels don't. As I write this, I can rewind the current plan on FS1, only non on FS2. The Discovery Channel doesn't support alive rewinding, but Food Network does, even though the same TV network runs both channels.

Hulu declined to provide any rhyme or reason for what makes "Start Over" bachelor on a given program. A spokesperson only said that the TV networks decide which shows should support this characteristic, and that information technology tin vary by program. In other words, you can't rely on it.

All of this is a shame considering Hulu otherwise has a lot going for information technology. The $65 per month live TV service has a broad live channel selection, plus it includes access to Hulu'due south extensive on-need catalog at no extra charge. Hulu's interface has also improved significantly over the years, and its l-60 minutes DVR is easier for cablevision converts to understand than YouTube Goggle box'south unlimited recording system. As a drop-in replacement for cablevision, information technology should exist an like shooting fish in a barrel recommendation.

Instead, the DVR makes Hulu + Live Goggle box feel like a relic from cord-cutting's cruder days.

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Source: https://www.techhive.com/article/579705/cord-cutters-demand-that-hulu-fix-its-live-tv-dvr.html

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