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Hulu Is Cutting The Cord On Entertainment: But Are We Ready Yet?

This article is more than 7 years old.

In the middle of my living room sits a prized Sony Bravia 4K Television, perched underneath which lies a greatly endeared PlayStation 4. To me, they are the epicenter of my entertainment lifestyle, the one place in my whole house where I can just sit down and relax after a tiresome day of work. Don't get me wrong. I love my work. Ever since I was eight, I wrote in my personal diary, which, by the time I was twelve, included everything from reflective poetry to massive catalogs of my daily life recorded in excruciating detail. I took up writing for local print magazines when I was fourteen, blogging when I was sixteen. I remember writing about everything from the nooks and crannies of the human psyche to the works of romantic era poets. It's just something I have always loved. But at the end of the day, when I feel utterly exhausted from hours of work, I need something to take my mind off the edge. And what better a way to unwind a troubled mind than to sit in front of a very large screen and consume the best of entertainment all at once? Not only does it provide me with the leisure I need, it is also quite often the source of immense inspiration. It might be a bit shameful for some people to admit, but truth be told, my entertainment is my sanctum. Needless to say, I pay a lot of attention to the way I consume my entertainment.

As someone who travels around a lot, I have never been a fan of cable TV. I did have a subscription for it in my house in NYC, but I seldom used it. Most of the entertainment that I consume comes from online sources, be it paid subscriptions like Netflix or a la carte services like iTunes. We are at the very outset of 2017, and there is no shortage of paid and free streaming services available online. The best thing about using them is how they allow you to view your favorite programs by category, eliminating the need for surfing channel to channel. The watch-whatever-you-want-whenever-you-want model also suits me perfectly, as I really don't feel like letting TV channels dictate when and where I decide to entertain myself. Sure, there is DVR, but the binge-watching model provided by services like Hulu or Netflix is still way better. I, just as many of my colleagues in the technology world, feel that the cable industry has overstayed its welcome, and is no more than a fossilized dinosaur waiting to be disposed off as soon as we can let go of our traditional habits.

However, if there is one thing that is keeping the cable television industry afloat, it is their monopoly over the ability to live telecast TV shows. Even the promptest of streaming services, at least the legal ones, don't update their streaming catalog for at least a day after your favorite show has been broadcasted on live TV. Netflix, which is currently the most widely renowned provider of online streaming services, is known to not update its catalog for months after a show has hit the screen. For a television junkie who likes to receive their episodes in the nick of time, and doesn't have the corrupted morality to pirate their favorite programs, cable television often presents itself as a necessary evil. In 2017, that might just have a shot at changing.

First off, let me just say that this is not the first time someone from the cordless industry has taken a shot at live TV. We already have Sling TV by Dish and the popular PlayStation Vue, both of which allow you to stream live channels for a considerable monthly fee. However, this is the first time that anyone from the on-demand television industry has taken up measures to launch an in-house live television program. Hulu, the popular entertainment streaming service that is best known for how up-to-date it manages to remain with the latest episodes of its most popular shows, will now be launching a live television program for those who are interested in catching the buzz as it happens. Later this year, Hulu will be completely redesigning its existing user interface with 'The New Hulu Experience'. The new UI, which retains most of the major features from its older counterpart, is far less cluttered despite being optimized for the new live TV function, and offers a far sleeker outlook for a modern audience. While not everything has been announced yet, we do know that Hulu's new live TV service will cost somewhere around $40, will feature a series of channels including CNN, ABC and Fox, and will arrive with a special ad-free version for an additional price.

If you're a fan of sports or an entertainment geek who likes to catch his episodes while they are live, but are considering ditching your old cable TV provider for something more time-appropriate, this might be a good moment to consider. While I haven't personally had a chance to try out The New Hulu Experience yet, those of my colleagues who did try it have come back to say that it is pretty good. However, the major problem, and there always is one with things like these, is whether the selected channels that Hulu will be offering in its live television program will be worth the extra $40 that it expects us to cough up. Over to you.

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