By: Eytan Hirsch
As DVDs become more obsolete, many consumers are shifting to web-based services in order to view movies and TV shows. Two of the most popular providers are Netflix and Hulu, and while both offer consumers a plethora of options, there are significant differences between the two.
An advantage of these types of providers is that people can use them as a replacement for their current cable subscriptions and save a substantial amount of money in the process. While basic cable costs around $50 per month, Netflix and Hulu range from free service to $16 per month.
Both services include a large number of movies and TV shows, however, while Hulu has a selection of about 800 films, this pales in comparison to the tens of thousands of movies offered by Netflix.
In addition, Netflix provides options for both on-demand Internet streaming and DVDs in the mail. With Hulu, there is no DVD option, and the streaming videos include many advertisements.
“I use Netflix a lot, but I rarely use Hulu because I got really annoyed with all of the commercials,” said junior architecture major Ari Lewkowitz. “I like Netflix much more because I prefer a service that lets you stream full shows and movies without having to sit through any ads.”
One benefit of Hulu is that a portion of its content is free to anyone. However, in order to watch the majority of Hulu’s offerings, people must purchase Hulu Plus for $7.99 per month. Hulu Plus is an upgraded high definition version of the original Hulu that includes a broader selection of content from which to choose.
Junior mechanical engineering major Savan Mestha used Hulu until the company stopped offering a lot of material that he was interested in.
“I used the free Hulu a little bit for some of my shows until they took away full seasons,” Mestha said.
While there was a time in which Hulu included all episodes of a new season of a show, the website now only includes up to five recent episodes of current season shows. This means that if a 12-episode season of a show finishes, only the final five will be available on Hulu. However, Hulu Plus would contain all 12.
“I know that Hulu Plus offers all of the episodes in a season, but there are still way less shows on there than there are on Netflix, and they have way too many commercials,” Mestha said. “So compared to Netflix, Hulu Plus just isn’t worth it.”
Yet a benefit of Hulu Plus in comparison to Netflix is that programs that have just aired on television become immediately available. With Netflix, users need to wait months before being able to watch the current season of a TV show.
Junior architecture major Chris Jakubowski said this is not an issue. Jakubowski, who has a Netflix account, said that it is more than adequate and that he has no need for Hulu.
“Most movies and shows that I want to watch are available on Netflix,” he said. “But for the ones that aren’t, I just find links to streams online, which isn’t hard to do at all.”
Overall, students find Netflix to be the more appealing option between the two providers. The combination of having a wider selection of titles, a lack of commercials, and the DVD-by-mail option all contribute to Netflix’s dominance over Hulu.
