Hulu with live TV, Sling or YouTube TV?

[Beatle Bum]

I know troglodytes like me ask this all the time, but I am tired of paying through my nose for Direct TV when I tend to watch very little. I want sports so I can see UK and college football and I want the networks. I probably would want cable news for those times when some city is burning and I want to watch the revolution live.

What is my best option and why?

 

[funKYcat75]

How hard have you NAS’d your PLEX?

 

[straykat]

I currently have Youtube TV and have had Hulu Live in the past. They are pretty much the same as far as programming goes. However, Youtube TV's on screen menu is much better for the user.

 

[Ryan Lemonds Hair]

I've had all 3 at varying times and prefer YouTubeTV although they all have pro's and cons. For me the DVR feature for YouTubeTV is the best. It has more capacity and for a game that runs past the scheduled time it will record until it is finished. There was nothing that ticked me off more than having a game run 20 or 30 minutes past the scheduled time due to overtimes and my DVR miss the end of the game.

 

[Ineverplayedthegame]

i had YouTube tv until last month. I switched to Hulu live when YTTV raised their prices.
From my perspective I got Fox Sports and the Reds and gave up MLB and and NBA networks and TVLand.
There are other differences obviously but you can try both for free and cancel at any time after you decide.

 

[Deeeefense]

Most TV I watch is either news or sports, with YouTube I get all 9 sports channels that college sports will be played on, all cable news channels, and all national network channels, plus others like PBS.

The only thing I can't get with youtube is Sunday Ticket which you either have to have a Direct TV account to get or be in an area where you can't have a dish. However the NFL now sells an add on to youtube TV called Game Pass, you can pull up any game that's already complete and watch the full replay or the condensed replay. I usually record and watch games on a delayed basis anyway so I'm fine with that. It's $99 for the season. Sunday Ticket is almost $300 per season and that's on top of what you pay for your Direct TV account.

 

[H-D cat]

I went with Hulu Live simply so I could watch the Reds. It's fine. The channel guide is kind of a pain, but other than that it serves its purpose.

 

[JumperJack]

Hulu has a ****** interface , the app sucks, it freezes a lot. It has the Reds. That’s it IMO.

 

[gamecockcat]

I've looked at all three and think I'll stay with Sling Orange + sports extra. It'll run about $40/mo and this basic package has 10 hours of cloud DVR included. Their site says for live sports, the DVR will record an extra 30 minutes (which sometimes is not enough). DVR + will give you 50 hours for an extra $5/mo. Seems like Hulu Live and YouTube are quite a bit more expensive (like $70/mo). Since I'm only going to get Sling for CFB season and then turn it off and I can get the major networks with my digital antenna, Sling is the best option for me.

 

[Beatle Bum]

This is helpful. Thanks. My initial inclination was to go with Hulu, but I am now leaning YouTube. DirectTV was screwing me, but they offered to drop me to about $70 per month. I passed. Time to try something new.

 

[Beatle Bum]

Report: Direct TV caved last year when I walked and offered me $45/mo for a year. Well, year is up and they automatically bumped us up like $70. Any new thoughts on this would be appreciated. I know the market can changed dramatically in one year. Thanks.

 

[funKYcat75]

Go back to Spectrum. They have started using lube now.

 

[Mossip]

Youtube TV's on screen menu is much better for the user.

For real? I'm on YouTube TV, but my biggest gripe is the user interface. It's got a ton of issues. Hulu must be really terrible if this is the case.

If you have voice command options with your remote, the guide/menu issues aren't that big of a deal. Still wish it was easier to channel surf or simply clear the screen to stick with what you're currently watching.

 

[Cotaay]

Hulus interface is so bad I didn't even finish my free trial and just deleted it off my tv.

 

[Ukbrassowtipin]

Have had hulu live for several years now. They keep adding channels. Interface doesn't bother me as much other than its alphabetical so if I'm on A&E and want to scroll to SEC it might take a second.

Also randomly a couple times in the past my network got put on some different server or something. Meaning you get the local NBC, CBS, ABC affiliates...so wlex, wkyt, etc...but randomly one day I turned it on and had local Iowa news. Got fixed easily but was weird.

 

[Corbin_Creeper]

I will take Hulu's interface over YouTubeTV's any day of the week, especially if I am wanting to get right back to the channel I was just watching.

Sling's price is good with Orange+Sports Extra, but I need the locals. YouTube is now losing another point with me because they are dropping NBC + all NBC-owned stations (14 in all) because of another fricking price dispute.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

I will take Hulu's interface over YouTubeTV's any day of the week, especially if I am wanting to get right back to the channel I was just watching.

Sling's price is good with Orange+Sports Extra, but I need the locals. YouTube is now losing another point with me because they are dropping NBC + all NBC-owned stations (14 in all) because of another fricking price dispute.

Oooo did not know this. I have to believe they are going to get this fixed? If YouTube doesn't they can kiss their streaming platform goodbye.

 

[*CatinIL*]

I just need to make sure that the place we have in Louisville and the place we have at Nolin Lake will the HISTORY Channel! Now, my wife will need HGTV and whatever baking channel that she watches...and I have yet to see any of those meals hit our dinner table!

So, how does that work? Talk to me people! How do I get rid of DTV from my place at Louisville and the place at Nolin without losing channels that I have on DTV?

And understand this...the HISTORY Channel is the BIG issue for me...my wife? Not so much.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

I saw my BIL's Firestick 4k and Kodi, and I'm still mixed on it. On one hand, I love the content. That part has never been the issue. But the menu's look clunky, seems complicated to find stuff, not intuitive. And several times during the night he had to do some IT magic to get it back (that could just be his setup, but he said it's a common thing).

I want something that's as close to the feel of cable guide and UI/UX that we all know from the 90's and 2000's. YoutubeTV/Hulu's isn't perfect, but it's gotten better.. and to me, that might be worth the 70 bucks a month.

But man.. the content options for Kodi.. I still need to really give it a full go.

 

[American Dragon]

I will take Hulu's interface over YouTubeTV's any day of the week, especially if I am wanting to get right back to the channel I was just watching.

Sling's price is good with Orange+Sports Extra, but I need the locals. YouTube is now losing another point with me because they are dropping NBC + all NBC-owned stations (14 in all) because of another fricking price dispute.

Most NBC's, as in the local stations, won't get dropped. NBC doesn't own the vast majority of those networks.

 

[BlueBallz_rivals30790]

I saw my BIL's Firestick 4k and Kodi, and I'm still mixed on it. On one hand, I love the content. That part has never been the issue. But the menu's look clunky, seems complicated to find stuff, not intuitive. And several times during the night he had to do some IT magic to get it back (that could just be his setup, but he said it's a common thing).

I want something that's as close to the feel of cable guide and UI/UX that we all know from the 90's and 2000's. YoutubeTV/Hulu's isn't perfect, but it's gotten better.. and to me, that might be worth the 70 bucks a month.

But man.. the content options for Kodi.. I still need to really give it a full go.

I’ve been running Kodi and a few other side loaded apps for over a year and love it. There are very few shows and sporting events I cant get. I got tired of continually getting jacked up prices for cable. There are some things you have to get used to, but I run a few add ons that I’ve gotten used to. I have to be a little more patient with it, but it’s worth it. I also follow several groups and keep learning about more stuff I can add. Once you get used to setting things up, it’s not as much “IT Magic” as you think.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

I’ve been running Kodi and a few other side loaded apps for over a year and love it. There are very few shows and sporting events I cant get. I got tired of continually getting jacked up prices for cable. There are some things you have to get used to, but I run a few add ons that I’ve gotten used to. I have to be a little more patient with it, but it’s worth it. I also follow several groups and keep learning about more stuff I can add. Once you get used to setting things up, it’s not as much “IT Magic” as you think.

I think i'd be fine navigating the quirky menus, but the misses, not so much. That's probably my biggest hurdle.

 

[parrott]

Oooo did not know this. I have to believe they are going to get this fixed? If YouTube doesn't they can kiss their streaming platform goodbye.

YouTubeTV user here and will take their interface over Hulu’s all day long - we had Hulu for a couple of months before changing.

To the poster who stated that getting to the previous channel on YouTube was difficult or non-existent, I don’t agree - found it pretty easy to do. Not sure what the issue they were having.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

YouTubeTV user here and will take their interface over Hulu’s all day long - we had Hulu for a couple of months before changing.

To the poster who stated that getting to the previous channel on YouTube was difficult or non-existent, I don’t agree - found it pretty easy to do. Not sure what the issue they were having.

It was a little tricky to figure out. For me on my LGB9, I think I hit the down arrow twice, and it gets me to a horizontal list of tiles with the last things I was watching. There is no dedicated back button on my remote that I've found, that works with YouTube, and that's a pretty new TV.

Once you figure it out, its fine. But still think neither of these streaming services have quite nailed the user interface and ease of modern cable. Though, I'm sure they will figure it out. It's not all on them either. It's not fully on YouTubeTV to make their app work with the hundreds of remotes out there.

 

[ScrewDuke1]

People really dislike Hulus interface? Why?

 

[joeyrupption]

We have YouTubeTV and Hulu w/o Ads (not Live TV).

I hate Hulu’s interface, but they recently made it a little better. YouTubeTV allows fast forwarding through commercials on Cloud DVR while Hulu does not, apparently.

Also, I would invest in a streaming device like an AppleTV, Roku, or Chromecast. Otherwise, you’ll be relying on the internal computer of the “Smart TV” to run things - they are all a big drop off from a dedicated streaming device.

We play stuff on 4K AppleTV’s, a 4K Firestick, and Vizio Smart TV hardware. The Vizio interface is dogs**t slow in comparison.

 

[anon1760843510]

I just need to make sure that the place we have in Louisville and the place we have at Nolin Lake will the HISTORY Channel! Now, my wife will need HGTV and whatever baking channel that she watches...and I have yet to see any of those meals hit our dinner table!

So, how does that work? Talk to me people! How do I get rid of DTV from my place at Louisville and the place at Nolin without losing channels that I have on DTV?

And understand this...the HISTORY Channel is the BIG issue for me...my wife? Not so much.

Then YouTube is not for you. The History Channel is the only thing I have a gripe with other than they keep upping the price.

 

[birdforbogey]

YTTV user here that has had Hulu in the past. One thing I really miss about Hulu is the function where you can go back to the beginning of the program if you tune in a little late. Damn that was nice to have.

 

[BlueBallz_rivals30790]

I think i'd be fine navigating the quirky menus, but the misses, not so much. That's probably my biggest hurdle.

I totally get that. My biggest hurdle to cut the (paying) cord was that my wife still wanted to watch local news. I finally found a way to do that outside of an antenna. Since the Kodi is free, you can still keep whatever you are paying and check it out. I definitely think it's worth it, even with the occassional quirks. Also, I had buffering issues when I had Hulu, so it's not too different in that respect.

 

[Mossip]

To the poster who stated that getting to the previous channel on YouTube was difficult or non-existent, I don’t agree - found it pretty easy to do. Not sure what the issue they were having.

Maybe if I described it a bit better, one of you could help. So let's say I'm watching ESPN and pull up the guide to see what else is on. After scrolling through the channels, I decide that Sportscenter is the best I can do for now.

With cable and sat's interface, you can simply "clear" off the guide or immediately go back to what you were watching. With youtubeTV, I have to scroll back to ESPN and select it from the guide (even though the channel never quit playing in the background).

It's a minor inconvenience, but maybe I'm missing something.

 

[parrott]

@Mossip - If you’re using YouTube TV and watching a show:

- If you hit the down arrow on your remote once, it will bring up a short guide that contains channels, episodes, etc.

- If you hit your remote down arrow twice, it will bring up a list of shows/channels that you’ve viewed with the last show/channel being first.

In short, while watching a show, hit your remote down arrow twice to show a list of recent shows/channels that you’ve been watching. No need to go back to the overall guide unless you’re looking for something else.

Hope this helps some. Good luck.

 

[ukalum01]

@Mossip - If you’re using YouTube TV and watching a show:

- If you hit the down arrow on your remote once, it will bring up a short guide that contains channels, episodes, etc.

- If you hit your remote down arrow twice, it will bring up a list of shows/channels that you’ve viewed with the last show/channel being first.

In short, while watching a show, hit your remote down arrow twice to show a list of recent shows/channels that you’ve been watching. No need to go back to the overall guide unless you’re looking for something else.

Hope this helps some. Good luck.

This took me way too long to realize. I was really frustrated with the lack of an apparent "previous channel" option until I stumbled on this.

 

[parrott]

^ Ended up Googling it and found it. Not intuitive at all but figured there had to be a better way than using the guide all the time.

 

[American Dragon]

^ Ended up Googling it and found it. Not intuitive at all but figured there had to be a better way than using the guide all the time.

Well it had to be software based because all the hardware is different.

 

[joeyrupption]

- If you hit the down arrow on your remote once, it will bring up a short guide that contains channels, episodes, etc.

- If you hit your remote down arrow twice, it will bring up a list of shows/channels that you’ve viewed with the last show/channel being first.

In short, while watching a show, hit your remote down arrow twice to show a list of recent shows/channels that you’ve been watching. No need to go back to the overall guide unless you’re looking for something else.

Hope this helps some. Good luck.

On YTTV, if I press “down” once it brings up a contextual menu for the show I’m watching.

If I press “down” twice, it brings up a ribbon menu of other suggested shows (recent, etc) below the the show’s contextual menu.

If I press “back” once brings up a smart menu to select from “Library” (DVR), “Home” (Smart), or Live “Guide” selection modes. (It keeps the previous state that was used when pulled up.)

If you are using the guide, you have to scroll all the way to the top (off the guide list) to select the show you’re already watching and clear the guide (or select it from the guide itself).

This is how it works on Apple and Amazon 4K’s for me.

 

[BlueBleedingMarine]

Direct TV

 

[Beatle Bum]

Direct TV

DTV hates its loyal customers. After the 2-year contract they automatically bump your rate to about $120. Then you have to barter to get it lowered, but only for a fixed time, then it goes back up. Last year when I was certain I was dumping them, the gave me a year at $48 per month. So I stayed. This year, they would not drop us below $90 per month (regular package + a sports package) and said I could have NFL package for free. So, we done.

A business that relies on patrons not paying attention to their bills is a bad business. The guy at the ATT Store said the trick is every two years switching between UVerse and DTV. That is a BS solution.

 

[Beatle Bum]

Forcing me to watch commercials on Hulu recorded shows is a loser. I will not do that.