Ok, ok finally thinking of cutting the cord (cable...it's gotten ridiculous)

[nadinbrzezinski]

what is better? HULU or Netflix? Looking at the programing on Hulu and it is missing some things, like my cooking channel and Science programing.

[Kelvin Mace]

1. Depends

Hulu is completely off my list because even the paid version still has commercials. I have Netflix and am quite satisfied. But, if you want the latest TV shows, then Hulu is what you want.

I cut the cord back in 2005 and haven't looked back.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. How about news?

Yeah, yeah, news adict

[Kelvin Mace]

18. Well, I go with podcasts

I get the BBC, Rachel Maddow, This Week in Tech, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell me, etc. The guys at the Daily Kos have a regular podcast that is pretty good. Also very good are Amy Goodman, Dan Carlin, Bill Maher (though he can be annoyingly smug) Marc Maron, and many others.

You can find a LOT of great podcasts to liven up your daily commute or daily walk:

Welcome to Nightvale (The Twilight Zone meets A Prairie Home Companion)
The Bugle with John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman
Risk
This American Life
The Nerdist
Girl on Guy with Aisha Tyler

You name the topic, someone is covering it.

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. Don't laugh, but we have news on since it is my cheap way of getting around the AP wire

(cannot afford it yet)

[Kelvin Mace]

27. Not a big fan of AP,

I prefer Reuters myself. But again, I read most of my news online, and then listen to various podcasts for in-depth discussion of complex topics.

Also, don't overlook Youtube which has a LOT of outstanding original content, as well as John Oliver, Jimmy Kimmel, Larry Wilmore, etc. Most of my music exploration is now from Youtube:

I have spent the last ten years off-cable and would be happy to share many of my finds if you are interested.

[nadinbrzezinski]

42. Not that I am a fan, but when news breaks they have the most people around

the world. So for breaking news they are better for it just broke. After that... though some of their local photogs are just as old school as we are. (young kids and their photoshop)

[Goblinmonger]

7. I think the paid version only had commercials

On a handful of shows. I upgraded the day it became available and haven't seen a commercial yet.

[Kelvin Mace]

25. I have read in The Consumerist

that they still have pre and post-credit ad rolls on some popular shows. When they drop ads completely, I will subscribe.

[Goblinmonger]

34. Correct

It isn't about popularity, though. Marvel Agents of SHIELD is one of the shows. Not exactly a barnburner. It has to do with the contracts they have with those shows. And the list they gave me before I confirmed really was a handful of shows.

[Kelvin Mace]

39. Cool, AoS

is one of my shows.

The whole industry needs to adjust their business model. It isn't 1966 anymore.

As I mentioned in other posts, I am a big fan of small content providers. I am perfectly willing to put $25 directly in Felica Day's pocket for something like The Guild or Melissa Hunter's Adult Wednesday Addams, and consider it fair value for my money.

[villager]

2. Are you getting a Roku player? Apple TV? Google?

It kind of depends what other "channels" -- in addition to Netflix -- you can download and what else you can stream.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. We know we are getting a new TV, ours is ... well... 20 years old

and my local cable provider insists on a 2 way converter, they said FCC made us do it, but FCC did not... I hate to get lied to. So will still get the TV... but I am quite the neub about this.

[Kelvin Mace]

22. I just got a Vizio

but I am a big fan of LG as well. You want something you can plug an Ethernet cable directly into, which is any smart TV made in the last three years. Also nice is a USB port to upload video/pics. If you shop last years models you are getting a better price. Stay way from 3D and curved screens which are gimmicks.

[nadinbrzezinski]

28. My specs are LED, they tend to last longer

HD or UHD, I am not sure about Smart No curvy or 3D... as you said, not just gimmicks, but expensive gimmicks

We saw a Samsung we liked a lot.

[Kelvin Mace]

32. Samsung is very good

Smart TVs are pretty much the norm. I started out in the days before Roku, Amazon Fire, etc, hooking up my PC directly to my TV and streaming content via the VGA connector to a Pioneer plasma my sister gave me (her husband is a gadget guy and goes for the latest tech every 3-4 years and I inherit the old tech).

What's your price range?

[nadinbrzezinski]

36. We saw that on sale for about 599

which I thought was a good price. Will be larger than the set we currently own. And that screen is large enough. Mind you, Roku we can stream on the computer. That grows the tv family from 1 to 5 just counting tablets and computers.

[haikugal]

61. Samsung is very good, I purchased one at Christmas last year and use it with an Apple TV.

I can stream everything from my iPad or watch Netflix etc. I don't do news anymore other than what I get online so can't help with that. I hit a great sale.

[Logical]

33. 4k requires you to sit close or no real difference. Look at some HDTV....

Distance charts on the web.

[nadinbrzezinski]

37. Cool, thanks

[RKP5637]

31. Check out Roku. I've had it since the beginning. It's incredible. You can get

about 2,000 channels or so, many are free. There is no subscription with Roku, you just get the box. Of course, you can then subscribe to Netflix, Hulu and the like. https://www.roku.com/ I get both Netflix and Hulu. I really like the menuing system on Netflix. Netflix is great for movies and all, all types. And Hulu is great for current stuff like on TV. Plus movies.

[nadinbrzezinski]

35. Thanks, will have a lot of things to mull over

the tv is a definite replacement. No, it is not dying, but if we are to cut the cord, the old set will not do

[TexasBushwhacker]

54. I am very happy with my Sharp HDTV

I got it at Best Buy. FYI, they have a rule that if the TV is 50" or over, they will service it in your house. The last thing I wanted to do is haul a 50 lb TV back into the store, so I went a bit bigger than I had originally planned. BB also has Daily Deals on their website that are worth checking out.

[nadinbrzezinski]

43. Looking at all right now

[XemaSab]

4. We have Netflix

Get it, and iffenwhen you get bored, you can get something else.

[peacebird]

6. Netflix was great, no commercials but recently dropped a major movie deal

Hulu has commercials, very annoying, but they recently added a tier where you can buy out of commercials. And they just added the movies netflix ditched.
We cut the cable two years ago, and live in the mountains so we cannot get on air tv.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Both are much lower than my cable bill

so getting both might be doable on the budget (yes we still would come ahead and damn it, we have basic cable)

I am more concerned about news... it's on... when working

[peacebird]

9. We get our news via internet. We had both netflix & hulu when we cut cable

Now just have netflix. It is $10 a month vs $140 a month. No contest!

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. exactly

[yeoman6987]

19. Yet. The cable companies are starting to see what is being done

And soon the Internet will be what cable used to be. It's only a matter of time. You know the cable company is seeing this disaster and will have to do something about it.

[nadinbrzezinski]

38. Well increaging the price every year

and now insisting the FCC told them to do something the FCC did not.

I know my congress critter does not like me much... coverage... but will be calling his office in the morning. I think they need to have the FCC have a looksie, but also Congress.

[yeoman6987]

45. I am pretty pissed off myself having to pay 203.00

Up from 186.00 a month. But I think soon the data on streaming will be limited and costs will increase if you go over data. Starting low but rise I next few years.

[nadinbrzezinski]

46. Should be humorous, since people are angry

today at the cable office I can tell you people are fed up

[yeoman6987]

50. It will be interesting how it shakes out

I just don't feel like we will win in the long run. We never seem to.

[nadinbrzezinski]

55. I know

[Desert805]

14. Actually...

There's all kinds of local channels available (as in local market, not local to me), which include news programming. I just haven't installed any.

I think RT and Al Jazeera have channels, but not sure if they live stream. The ones I've tried, CNN, MSNBC, and whatever else don't/didn't.

[Desert805]

16. News is a tough one.

You don't get much news, but you can stream from the internet very easily.

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. My problem is that I usually am streaing the greatest hits of monte vista and Heartland

(scanner traffic)

[Nevernose]

26. The movie deal is bad for consumers, but good for the corporations involved

As Twitter so aptly put it:

Disney sells movies to Netflix
Fox & Universal sells to HBO
Epix sells to Hulu, and Hulu is owned by Disney, Fox, and Universal.

[TransitJohn]

11. If you already have Amazon Prime,

Be sure to check out all you get streaming.

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. I have not signed for that

[animalvet]

13. Check out Roku

It'll cover any missing channels.

[tammywammy]

23. +a million!

I have a Roku 3 (which is the current Roku 2 offering), it's fantastic. Welcome to DU!!!

To nadin - hulu & Netflix are different. Are there current tv shows that you watch, like Scandal, The Daily Show? If you want to keep up with them, first check if there on hulu. Netflix won't have day after airing shows. But Netflix had some excellent shows too.

I saw get both for a couple of months to test it out. Also, get an antenna and you'll pick up plenty of local stations.

[Frustratedlady]

15. I cut my cable way down to basic and bought a ROKU box.

Saved nearly $100/month.

The offerings I liked on cable were diminishing quickly and I rarely even watched TV anymore. Then, I spent some time at the home of one of my kids and got a taste of ROKU. Tons of selections that I'll never get to and I still have my PBS channel on basic. I'm happy!

[blogslut]

21. I prefer Netflix.

When it comes to paying for a streaming service, I go with Netflix because I get awesome documentaries, British television, the occasional great movie, a bunch of okay movies, some really fine original programming, all without commercials.

As for Hulu, the thing is, the majority of stuff I want to watch is already free with a non-paid membership.

[abelenkpe]

24. We use Hulu

Apple TV and HBO now. Hulu has Dr. Who so I'm happy

[nadinbrzezinski]

30. The Doctor is kind of essential

[hexola]

29. We have both - combined about 17.00 bucks a month...

Comes out of my PayPal account - funded by eBay sales.

We also get 70+ channels of OTA digital TV...(i.e. FREE)

We've been on the road all summer dealing with a family death/estate reconciliation...

And they have cable here...

Everybody Loves Raymond looks the same on OTA - and Netflix...

I miss news channels - we had Al Jazzera for a while via Mhz...but not since they went cable

And if you like sports - you need to get with MLB.com...or the like...

I pay Comcast/Xfinity for an internet connection...nothing else.

Much easier to manage...I think my internet bill is 49.00 a month.

But that includes DU...and ya know...the whole internet...

And we have cool smart TV - LG with WebOS - like a giant tablet with a cool remote...

CUT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Initech]

40. Netflix + iTunes + HBO Now = bye bye cable!

With that I can watch a pretty much unlimited amount of content and only have to pay $14.99/month for HBO + $7.99/month for Netflix. A far cry from what my parents pay for DirectTV each month (approaching $160/month)!

[Lochloosa]

41. Roku, Netflix and Sling. Thats my setup. 28 Bucks

[SidDithers]

44. DU rec...nt

Sid

[yuiyoshida]

47. for more than ten years I have gone without a tv

The internet is my entertainment and look! Its interactive! ..people will find their entertainment in many ways.. (I am thinking about getting a Playstation 3 in time for the game Mirror's Edge to come out!) but I don't watch tv shows, only clips on DU.. and I guess I am happier without it, to each their own, I guess.

[nadinbrzezinski]

49. We have news on almost all the time

and I enjoy a couple science channels, and a two food channel shows.

We are news junkies, but we are also news producers. I am finding out that Roku might be a good way to get CNN I, which is far superior to CNN... not hard.

[yuiyoshida]

51. guess I am a news junkie too as

I have various places on the internet booked mark. Do you know that many stories of what happens in the USA go unreported but are covered by international sources. Whats up with that? Its simple, they report news stories that are geared to their slant, and to the audience that are in their slant, so...a major story about an event in Chicago goes unreported even there but is picked up by a Japanese news paper...you have to ask yourself, wtf??

the internet is far superior to any News Network we have, if you know where to look.

[nadinbrzezinski]

52. I know, I ran a story on recidivism this morning

not that it would be posted on DU.

[AtomicKitten]

48. Netflix. Canceled Hulu because we rarely used it.

Netflix has an endless supply of foreign and classic films. All genres. Also series. And limited access to cable news - for me that's a good thing.

[SheilaT]

53. Netflix.

If Hulu would get rid of the commercials on the paid side, I'd reconsider them. But pay, and still have to watch commercials? Really?

Netflix has Dr. Who.

There's an amazing amount of news available on line, and you're much better off not getting sucked into the wall-to-wall coverage that sucks up all the oxygen over genuinely trivial things. Example: I didn't learn until about a year after Michael Jackson (can you say over-the-hill music person/pedophile?) died that all the networks had gone to wall to all coverage about him. As if that were something that really deserved to push everything else aside.

You will be able to watch the conventions because the networks covering them will go to streaming coverage. Same with election night next year.

And when some breaking news happens that you actually care about, just google to find out the TV stations in that area, and the chances are good that at least one of them will go to streaming coverage. I wind up catching the local coverage of lots of things that way.

PBS shows are a bit hit or miss, but if you're a fan of "Downtown Abbey" you'll be able to watch the next season just one day after it's broadcast. Other shows you sometimes wait a very long time for. But you'll probably spend somewhat less time watching shows, which might be a good thing.

In 2008, when I moved to my current location, I didn't want to spend the money for a TV, nor did I want to pay for cable or a satellite hook up. I honestly didn't think I'd do without for this long, but now I can't ever imagine going back to regular TV in any form. Yeah, there are shows that I'd like to see that I don't ever get around to seeing, but my life isn't noticeably impoverished because of that.

This is the third time in my life I've gone for several years without TV. The second time, which was for seven years in the early 1970's, a co-worker thought that I must be terribly uninformed about what was happening in the world because of no TV. Every so often he'd quiz me, and he was quite amazed that I really did know what was happening. I got the local newspaper, I read the weekly news magazines, and I read books. Thanks to the books, I tended to know a whole lot more about all sorts of things than he did. So doing without TV will not leave you ill-informed about the world unless you make no effort at all to find out what is happening.

And DU all by itself tends to keep up with things.

[wcmagumba]

56. I left cable behind about two years ago...

I use Netflix, free Hulu (cheap laptops connected to the two tvs), small indoor antenna (only get about 14 channels but all the networks, a couple of old tv/movie channels and 3 pbs channels) and a smart dns service (gets tons of shows and movies from UK, Australia and Canada). Youtube documentaries (there are thousands). I am set in two rooms with two cheapo laptops and two rokus . With high speed internet I am paying about $57 a month. I am trying the sling tv service for a month but might not keep it (adds $25 with the movie package). Still not as much as cable was costing...plenty to watch, just a different paradigm from the old channel flipping.

[CBGLuthier]

57. Why choose. Total cost for both is about 25 a month

I liked Hulu because it has a huge depth of TV content and the Criterion collection of movies. BBC and other shows. They also are very good for watching some current shows the next day. I used to watch The Daily Show and ABC programming there.

Netflix is great for movies. Some TV. They do have some different original content. You probably will not find your cooking shows.

YouTube has a ton of useful content, recipes all kinds of things.

Amazon is great for when you want something the others don;'t have and are willing to pay a little.

I suggest the Roku as you can get all these services and more at a very affordable price for the box itself.

Note. I have not used Netflix or Hulu in 9 months because they are not available in my country so my knowledge of them is out of date.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

58. I have both

Netflix usually gets more use. If you want good broad selection of shows and movies, go with Netflix. If you want up-to-date shows and lots of anime, go with Hulu.

[nadinbrzezinski]

59. Ah anime, have not done that in a while

and there are some good shows on that

[Jake Stern]

60. Ditched cable when I realized that 99% of viewing time was one of four channels

Food Network
History
Discovery
80's Music Choice channel

Couldn't justify paying for 100's of channels only to watch that few.