Hulu is committing suicide!

[TheForce]

Couple years ago, my wife wanted Hulu to watch Handmaid's Tale. So we subscribed and the next year the price went up to double. Then it went back down a small amount. then in 2019, Hulu doubled our sales tax from 6.5% to 13%. No explanation why.
So on June 26th, I get my bill that was paid automatically by Credit Card and the next day I lose my service! I get a notice on my Samsung UHD player that HULU is no longer supporting Samsung TV's and BluRay players. I started to do some research on this and discovered thousands of customers across the nation are furious that their new TV's and other internet devices are being blacked out too. An article in Cord Cutter claimed Hulu is planning to cut out all older internet devices services except the latest models on a schedule to be complete by end of August.
Well, I don't need Hulu with Netflix and Amazon Prime streaming services. Cancelled my subscription and requested a refund of my last payment. I doubt they will refund it. They haven't answered my questions. The company is just not carrying about customers. I wonder if Disney will fix that?!?!

 

[dewzan]

Disney is the one who will KILL hulu not fix it... and that is their plan, I believe.

 

[mwdxer1]

Couple years ago, my wife wanted Hulu to watch Handmaid's Tale. So we subscribed and the next year the price went up to double. Then it went back down a small amount. then in 2019, Hulu doubled our sales tax from 6.5% to 13%. No explanation why.
So on June 26th, I get my bill that was paid automatically by Credit Card and the next day I lose my service! I get a notice on my Samsung UHD player that HULU is no longer supporting Samsung TV's and BluRay players. I started to do some research on this and discovered thousands of customers across the nation are furious that their new TV's and other internet devices are being blacked out too. An article in Cord Cutter claimed Hulu is planning to cut out all older internet devices services except the latest models on a schedule to be complete by end of August.
Well, I don't need Hulu with Netflix and Amazon Prime streaming services. Cancelled my subscription and requested a refund of my last payment. I doubt they will refund it. They haven't answered my questions. The company is just not carrying about customers. I wonder if Disney will fix that?!?!

I recently dropped Hulu as I had the commercial service for a time, but $5.99 a month to pay for a service with ads, is too much. I already have HBO and Prime, so that is fine.

 

[Radioguy41]

Couple years ago, my wife wanted Hulu to watch Handmaid's Tale. So we subscribed and the next year the price went up to double. Then it went back down a small amount. then in 2019, Hulu doubled our sales tax from 6.5% to 13%. No explanation why.
So on June 26th, I get my bill that was paid automatically by Credit Card and the next day I lose my service! I get a notice on my Samsung UHD player that HULU is no longer supporting Samsung TV's and BluRay players. I started to do some research on this and discovered thousands of customers across the nation are furious that their new TV's and other internet devices are being blacked out too. An article in Cord Cutter claimed Hulu is planning to cut out all older internet devices services except the latest models on a schedule to be complete by end of August.

That's about the dumbest thing I've ever heard. While everyone else is scrambling to make their apps work on as many platforms as possible these guys are going in the opposite direction and shooting themselves in the foot.

 

[Ronnie-]

What year is the TV or blu ray player that you have? I would wager it is an issue of age of the device, rather than Hulu dropping support for Samsung products, without seeing the notice that they sent you of course.

Generally, smart TV platforms that dont have roku/fire tv/android built in, will be the first to lose access, and are rarely updated. Which is why I have said many times that they are the least desirable options for long term streaming, even if they may be the simplest in terms of click and watch.

 

[Ronnie-]

Correction: Hulu Is Ending Support For Most But Not All DVD & Blu-ray Players - Cord Cutters News

This is likely the report that you saw.

Now Hulu has confirmed to Cord Cutters News that Sony 4k Blu-Ray devices will be supported, as well as Samsung Tizen Blu-Ray devices. All other DVD and Blu-ray players will be losing Hulu support sometime between now and the end of August 2019.

This all comes as Hulu is getting ready to roll out a new app sometime this summer. Hulu is likely focusing on devices with the largest number of users.

First announced at CES in January, Hulu’s new user interface will also be rolling out this summer

Not really surprising imo, the devices with the largest user base will still be supported. I dont see this hurting them at all.

 

[ncted]

Couple years ago, my wife wanted Hulu to watch Handmaid's Tale. So we subscribed and the next year the price went up to double. Then it went back down a small amount. then in 2019, Hulu doubled our sales tax from 6.5% to 13%. No explanation why.
So on June 26th, I get my bill that was paid automatically by Credit Card and the next day I lose my service! I get a notice on my Samsung UHD player that HULU is no longer supporting Samsung TV's and BluRay players. I started to do some research on this and discovered thousands of customers across the nation are furious that their new TV's and other internet devices are being blacked out too. An article in Cord Cutter claimed Hulu is planning to cut out all older internet devices services except the latest models on a schedule to be complete by end of August.
Well, I don't need Hulu with Netflix and Amazon Prime streaming services. Cancelled my subscription and requested a refund of my last payment. I doubt they will refund it. They haven't answered my questions. The company is just not carrying about customers. I wonder if Disney will fix that?!?!

Did your state raise sales tax on Internet Video services? Did Netflix sales tax go up? If not, you should turn them into your state's DOR for overcharging you sales tax.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

The only reason I have Hulu is because I am only paying 99 cents a month for it. I dont use it much.

 

[satjay]

We have the commercial version that comes with sprint. Have not really watched much on it, other then a few older shows

 

[dfergie]

Lost CBS Access on my player a few months back... my fire sticks & Tivo take up the slack... Have to check Hulu on my player..


Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys mobile app

 

[ncted]

I get Hulu for a month or two each year to watch a handful of shows. Same thing for CBS. Unlike Netflix, Prime, and HBO, which we keep year-round, those services just don't have enough of what we want to justify keeping all the time.

 

[Voyager6]

The only reason I have Hulu is because I am only paying 99 cents a month for it. I dont use it much.

I'm on the 99 cent Black Friday deal also. I will not be renewing after November.

 

[TheForce]

My most recent device is a Samsung UHD 4K player with hundreds of apps besides Hulu is about 2 years old and the Denon was replaced with a new one in February. Since it is the most trouble free one source for many state of the art content, including 4K and HDR 3D IP services as well as it supports a stack of USB connected hard drives for my own content in a jukebox format. It is what I use 99% of the time. I also have other devices that are older but they don't support the latest formats. My Sony Player is a world's standards player. It lost the Hulu as well. I did see a post yesterday in one of the many complaint forums that said Sony threatened to sue them so Hulu put Sony players and TV's back on but I haven't checked mine yet. My old Play Station 3 lost Hulu, not sure about PS4 and the XBOX. I don't really use them much, mostly when the Grandkids come over. They're into the Oculus devices now anyway. The Oculus devices have Hulu apps but I never set them up for Hulu.

I don't think it's the age of the device. All these devices were working fine with Hulu over the weekend. I just feel it is a move that was hinted earlier here that Hulu will be soon replaced by Disney's new IP service and they want everything under one service. Not sure I agree with that process.

On the sales tax, I'll have to check but none of the other services charge 13% sales tax that i have seen. Might have slipped by me so I will have to look into it.

 

[rad]

I just checked a 2016 and 2018 Samsung TV and the Hulu app is working fine there. I also checked my Samsung 4K BluRay player and yep, it gets the your screwed message. Good thing I hardly use the Blu-Ray players, mostly use the TV's apps or my Apple 4K TV's for streaming.

 

[allargon]

Strange. I've found Hulu to be the most value-conscious of the big 3 streamers. They don't have as much original content as Netflix or even Amazon. But, until Netflix and Amazon start showing ads (They will.), they're the least expensive. They don't play THAT many commercials. Moreover, for older shows, they often don't bother to show commercials or show a single block at the beginning like European broadcasters (and PBS stations) do. Hulu has a better selection of first-run movies than many realize. (People will really notice when Netflix loses all its Disney movies later this year.) Lastly, Hulu doesn't play ads during its movies.

I believe the Xbox 360 still has Hulu, FWIW. All the older devices are losing support. Even Netflix has cut off a lot of older players. That's just the way it is.

 

[ncted]

Strange. I've found Hulu to be the most value-conscious of the big 3 streamers. They don't have as much original content as Netflix or even Amazon. But, until Netflix and Amazon start showing ads (They will.), they're the least expensive. They don't play THAT many commercials. Moreover, for older shows, they often don't bother to show commercials or show a single block at the beginning like European broadcasters (and PBS stations) do. Hulu has a better selection of first-run movies than many realize. (People will really notice when Netflix loses all its Disney movies later this year.) Lastly, Hulu doesn't play ads during its movies.

I believe the Xbox 360 still has Hulu, FWIW. All the older devices are losing support. Even Netflix has cut off a lot of older players. That's just the way it is.

If Netflix start showing 3rd party ads, I think that would spell their doom. They are going to be challenged enough as all of these competitors continue to launch.

 

[Juan]

How did you swing that deal?

The only reason I have Hulu is because I am only paying 99 cents a month for it. I dont use it much.

Sent from my SM-G950U using the SatelliteGuys app!

 

[rad]

I'm on the 99 cent Black Friday deal also. I will not be renewing after November.

On that same deal. Will probably also cancel until they build up a bunch of stuff I want to watch, sub for a month and binge watch.

 

[Bobby]

I use Hulu, ad free, a lot. Combined with CBS All Access also ad free, I can watch just about every prime time show without a need to wait for Auto Hop or the Skip Forward button.

 

[Ronnie-]

How did you swing that deal?

Sent from my SM-G950U using the SatelliteGuys app!

It was a Black Friday deal if I’m not mistaken.