Hulu Has A Hit With Battleground

I just finished watching this 13 episode series in less than a week and I already cannot wait for a second season. This show follows the Wisconsin Senate campaign of State Senate Deidre Samuels in a documentary like fashion (think “The Office”). But unlike the other shows of this medium, there is actual interaction between the camera crew and the ones being filmed.

The writing is pretty smart and the characters are rich and 3-dimensional. Even the main character, campaign manager Chris “Tak” Davis is flawed. I even think it’s reminiscent of “The West Wing”. And it’s a Hulu exclusive. The question is, will this warrant a Hulu Plus subscription. For me, right now it’s still a no. If they have two or three more shows like this I may rethink my current stance.

Fortunately for me, “Battleground” is currently available for free on the Hulu website; otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to view this show in the first place and appreciate its brilliance. Definitely give this show a chance. It’s only 13 episodes after all.

Giving Hulu Plus Another Show But Still Not Impressed

As you may have read, I was sucked into the world of Inuyasha recently. Well I finished all 167 episodes that where on Netflix and realized that the story was far from over. Apparently a second series called Inuyasha: The Final Act was made and it’s available for viewing on Hulu. Used to watching this series from the comfort of my couch facing the TV, I decided to give Hulu Plus another shot. Luckily for me, this particular show was available for TV browsing (you can see where this is going), because I soon found out that not much has changed since the last time I tried the 7-day trial of Hulu 1 or 2 years ago.

One of the things that still annoys me about Hulu Plus is that I still have to sit through commercials. It’s one thing to see Hulu for free on my browser and deal with commercials but to still go through this after paying for a subscription service is irksome. For that same price I get commercial-free service with Netflix. Also, as I mentioned in the last paragraph if somewhat indirectly, not everything that’s available to view online is available for TV or mobile viewing. I had to sit in front of my computer to watch the newest episode of 30 Rock because I couldn’t do it from my TV.

Speaking of commercials, there used to be just one commercial per break. They then made it to 2 when you don’t count the commercial telling you what’s available in their catalogue for instant-browsing (so really it’s 3 now). Currently they keep advertising the CW lineup. My curiosity was piqued and I decided to check out one of their shows, Hart of Dixie. One of the biggest selling points for Hulu Plus is that you get all the episodes of the current season of all their shows. Well that isn’t the case for any of the CW shows. All that advertising and not only do I not get the current season of Hart of Dixie but the episodes that are available for viewing aren’t even in order, so obviously, I’ll just wait for this show to be available on Netflix a year or so from now (if I still remember or care to bother by that time).

I’m glad that I got to wrap up the tale of Inuyasha from the comfort of my couch; however, in hindsight, I should of just saved my $7.99 and watched those episodes on my browser. Most of the shows in my Hulu queue have to be watched like that anyway. What’s one more?

Not Understanding The Recent Netflix Backlash

Recently, Netflix decided to change their pricing plans (which will take effect on September 1, 2011). They decided to split up their streaming and DVD plans as two different services. So instead of paying $10.00 for unlimited DVDs and unlimited streaming, you would now have to pay $7.99 for instant streaming and another $7.99 for the unlimited DVD plan. In other words, those that were accustomed to having both services will now have to pay $5.00 dollars more. This isn’t an issue for me since I already switched to the streaming only plan, but it seems to have really irked a lot of people on the Internet and it begs to question, why?

First of all, how many of those complaining really take advantage of the DVD plan? Second of all, $15.00 a month is still at least half of what anyone pays for cable and you’re getting a-la-carte service instead of being forced to have services you don’t want (how many of those channels in your family basic service do you really watch?). Alas, I understand, somewhat, that people don’t like to pay more for services that they were already paying for at a reduced cost. Unfortunately, sometimes prices have to go up.

The fact of the matter is, Netflix spends a hell of a lot of money on shipping out DVD’s and they realize that the streaming model is their future. So they need to plan accordingly and that is the reason for their new pricing model. And honestly, I still don’t see anything out there that really compares to the Netflix model. But for the sake of argument, let’s list the other legal streaming options available for those that want to cancel their Netflix accounts because of the price change.

Hulu Plus
You can get Hulu Plus for the same $7.99/month pricing plan as Netflix. They do have some movies in their collection that are no longer available in the Netflix library (the Criterion collection comes to mind). Also you get to watch the current seasons of a lot of the popular TV shows that won’t be available on Netflix for some time to come. However, you have to sit through commercials during your Hulu plus viewing and you may not have the same shows/movies available to view on your TV, via a set-top box, that are available on a web browser (this really annoyed the hell out of me when I tried out my free trial with my Roku box).

Amazon Prime and other Video On Demand Services
If you’re already an Amazon Prime member and pay your annual $79 fee, for free 2-day shipping and $3.99 one-day shipping, you’re also entitled to free instant-streaming of 5000+ TV shows and movies (this comes out to roughly $6.58/month). if none of those 5000 options are what you want to watch they have a more extensive library of rentals. You can generally rent movies for $3.99, though they sometimes have discounted rentals. For most TV shows you have the option to buy them for $1.99 per episode (if you get a season pass it drops to $1.89 per episode). There doesn’t seem to be a rental option for TV shows, except for the ones that are already free for instant streaming for Prime members and a few others that don’t have a buying option like True Blood.

When you rent on Amazon you’re given a 30-day window before it is removed from your queue. Once you start to watch a rental you have a 48hr-window to complete your rental viewing. Also. you can’t change how you’re watching your rental (if you’re watching your rental from a web browser you have to finish it there. You can’t switch to your set-top box).

This is a good option if you like to watch movies as soon as they become available for rental (unfortunately the movie industry isn’t keen on the a-la-carte model which is why Netflix doesn’t get movies until they’re no longer popular and they’ve already gone through pay-per-view, premium cable channels, Amazon and iTunes services, etc). But as you can already see, you’ll still be paying more in the long run per month with this option versus Netflix.

iTunes
iTunes does allow you the option to rent TV shows as well as buy the episodes, with few exceptions. You can rent a TV episode for $0.99 or buy them for $2.99 each. Movie rentals vary from $2.99 to $4.99 each but they also offer a “$0.99 Movie Rental of The Week” category. iTunes also offers the same 30 day-window for keeping a rental in your queue but they only offer you a 24hr-window to complete your viewing of your rental once you start watching it (TV shows are given a 48hr-window for some reason). Unlike Amazon, you can switch from your computer to your portable device or Apple TV, provided you downloaded your rental to your computer first.

I found it surprising that iTunes had more flexible rental pricing options than Amazon. Unfortunately for me, iTunes is only available on the TV via an Apple TV device, not through my Roku box, and Apple TV only works with a HDTV which I currently do not own (I’m perfectly content with my standard color 480i TV, thank you very much). So unless I do a pricey upgrade I can only use this option on my computer and iPhone.

In Conclusion
It still seems to me that Netflix is the better bang for your buck. Occasionally I may rent a movie through Amazon but those days will be seldom as I tend to be more of a TV show viewer and I have a bunch of shows that I’m happily watching on Netflix. For those that still feel like they’re getting ripped off, a good free option would be your public library for your movie needs.