The big battle – Hulu vs YouTube TV

Late February 2017 YouTube announced their new service, YouTube TV. Can this new service make Hulu unnecessary? Which service should you choose, Hulu or YouTube TV?

At the time writing YouTube TV is still not a service you can use, but lots of information has been shared about the service. Let me therefore sum up all the information we know about YouTube TV.

What do we know about YouTube TV?

  • The service is to cost 35 USD a month.
  • You will get access to Fox, NBC, ABC and CBS.
  • You get access to unlimited DVR storage, meaning you can record as much content as you want.
  • For plus fees you can get extra content like sports and more.

So far this sounds very promising, but it is way more expensive that a Hulu subscription, so the question is whether or not it is worth the money. The fact that you get access to the live streams of these channels make it much better than Hulu, but for people like me, living in Europe, I do not have that much interest in the actual live streams provided from these channels. I use Hulu for the sake of watching my favorite TV series whenever I want to, and with YouTube TV my goal would be mostly the same.

The big difference between US and European users

I do realize that people in the United States will use YouTube TV to watch live content, first and foremost, so my perspective is more the perspective of someone in Europe. Now YouTube TV isn’t meant to be a service available for people outside the United States, but there are still ways in which you and I can watch YouTube TV outside the US.

YouTube TV is meant to be a service that will take the place of your current cable subscription. And if it is, then it will make you save a lot of money as you cancel your cable subscription, and get access to these TV channels live and on-demand for the monthly price promised by YouTube TV.

Can YouTube TV make a knockout on Hulu?

So far there are rumors about the expansion of Hulu, meaning that you can watch live streams from the same TV networks and more on Hulu as well. Since these are plans with no release date yet, I can not discuss those in this article. But, based on the current opportunities on Hulu. the following question stands in focus as I answer whether or not YouTube TV can make a knockout on Hulu.

YouTube TV vs Hulu – the DVR question

I believe the one question in focus when it comes to YouTube TV making a knockout on Hulu is the DVR question. One should not forget about the Hulu original content, meaning that if you are a fan of Chance, The Mindy Project and similar TV series, then you will need to keep your Hulu subscription no matter what. But, if you use Hulu to watch TV series and programs from the same TV networks that soon will turn available on YouTube TV, then the DVR question is the one that matters.

I have written about this in other articles as well, but to me the question is how hard YouTube TV will make it to use the DVR function. I expect it to be very easy, but how easy will it become? I am sure that you will be able to look through a TV schedule, and there you can easily press a button to record a given program. But, will they make you able by pressing a button to record all episodes of a given program, for an entire season? Can I with one or two clicks tell YouTube TV to record all new episodes of 24: Legacy and keep them available for me until I say that I am not interested anymore? That is the big question!

I do not trust myself, and thus I am sure that I would forget to use the DVR function for all my favorite TV programs every single week. That is why I would rely on a function from YouTube TV to make me able to record all new episodes of a certain program for an entire season. If this would become possible, then it would make life much harder for Hulu. Especially considering how you can record an unlimited amount of programs with YouTube TV.

Who won the battle – Hulu or YouTube TV?

I do not know yet. I will for sure become wiser after trying YouTube TV for a couple of days, but I do believe that people in the United States planning to cut their cables in order to watch all content online will have great joy in the new YouTube TV. For them it might even make the Hulu subscription unnecessary, but that is a DVR and a Hulu original content question.

For those overseas only using Hulu to watch content on demand it is probably not worth upgrading and paying almost three times more to get YouTube TV. Hulu is a service with a long experience, lots of users, and it also gives you access to the Hulu original content and lots of movies.

I can not give a definite answer to the question, but the winner of the Hulu vs YouTube TV battle is both services. Now it is up to you to decide which service will become the winner in your home. Which service will you pick? Why don’t you write a comment beneath to share your thoughts and your winner in the YouTube TV vs Hulu battle.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *