[SwellJoe]

Hulu has always seemed like its primary goal is to serve the incumbent television providers, and not their viewers. I don't know if it's still this way, but when the paid version was first introduced, I tried it for a while, but they often only had the most recent season of a show. What am I supposed to do with that? Start watching a show at season 5?

Netflix gets it: I want to either watch the whole show from the beginning (not necessarily in a binge, but sometimes), or watch the first episode and stop. There is never a time where I think "Oh, let's watch episode 9 from season 3 from this show I've never watched before".

I have Netflix and Amazon Prime; is there a reason to add Hulu to the mix, at this point? Are there shows or movies on Hulu that I'm not getting from Netflix or Prime? I am becoming more and more disappointed in the selection at Netflix, even while their exclusive content has gotten better their movie selection has begun to suck. I'd really like it if there were a good movie service, like Netflix once was. Hulu obviously isn't that, of course.

[teej]

> Hulu has always seemed like its primary goal is to serve the incumbent television providers, and not their viewers

Err, maybe because Hulu is literally owned by the incumbent television providers?

"... It is a subsidiary of Hulu, LLC, a joint venture of The Walt Disney Company,[8] 21st Century Fox, Comcast and as of 2016, Time Warner through their Disney-ABC Television Group, Fox Broadcasting Company, NBCUniversal Television Group and Turner divisions" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hulu

[hsod]

> I have Netflix and Amazon Prime; is there a reason to add Hulu to the mix, at this point?

If you want to watch currently airing shows on your own schedule, instead of when they actually air. If you only like to watch back catalogs, maybe it isn't for you. But you can't watch the very latest episodes of in-season shows on Netflix or Prime (for the most part).

Hulu is mostly a replacement for DVR/cable On Demand, not DVD box sets (although they do have a decent number of full runs these days).

[SwellJoe]

I don't own a TV and have never had cable. I have no idea what's currently on television. I don't really care to watch shows as they happen, in the general case; I'm fine watching them at the end of the season (or all at once from the beginning, the way Netflix does their shows). There are very few shows I'd be extra excited to get as they air (Game of Thrones is the only one that comes to mind, and I would pay to watch it in a reasonable way online, but HBO doesn't provide a reasonable way to do so).

Netflix has historically been my favorite of the available options; but their selection, particularly movies but also shows, has gotten pretty weak in recent years, so I always vaguely consider alternatives. But, mostly I just end up renting via Amazon Instant Video when it's something that Netflix and Prime don't have.

[tracker1]

I always find Prime horrible for watching series, as they don't group the series together, at least not on the website. Agreed on Netflix's movie selection slipping. The problem is the battle between all the carriers. I'm not quite sure I get online rental pricing either... I mean, why can't they compete with Redbox here, where renting a movie for a 24hr viewing is $1? The streaming can't possibly cost more.

What's really needed is some consolidation. And I wouldn't mind seeing a service with a better ala cart model that's almost as much as buying DVD/BlueRay either.

[dragonwriter]

> Are there shows or movies on Hulu that I'm not getting from Netflix or Prime?

Yes, each has a different set of back-catalog shows, Hulu has current-season shows from a number of networks, and all three outlets of exclusive, first-party content.

They also overlap significantly, so whether the marginal value of adding Hulu is justified is a question you'll have to answer yourself, but there is definitely stuff you won't have with the other two that you would by adding Hulu.

[qwertyuiop924]

>I have Netflix and Amazon Prime; is there a reason to add Hulu to the mix, at this point?

The one thing Hulu does better than Netflix and Prime is Anime. But CrunchyRoll has them beat there.