Hulu Plus Live TV review: Excellent catalog, channels for the price

Editor's Note, Mar. 14: Hulu has announced that as of April 13 all customers on the Hulu Plus Live TV base plan will now have an unlimited DVR which includes fast forward for no extra charge. We will update this review as soon as possible.

8.4

Hulu Plus Live TV

Like

• Solid mix of channels
• Full access to Hulu's on-demand content
• Disney Plus and ESPN Plus included

Don't like

• Worse live channel selection, more expensive than YouTube TV

At $6 a month, basic Hulu is one of the best deals in streaming, with gobs of current and past TV shows and movies. The hefty $70 upgrade to Hulu Plus Live TV buys a healthy mix of live sports, news and local channels. That combination of live channels with Hulu's deep on-demand catalog of network TV shows and original programming is something no other live TV service can match.

But things change fast in the world of live TV streaming services. After the latest price hike, Hulu now costs more than YouTube TV -- a service we like better overall for its superior cloud DVR and slightly better channel count. Though the latter experienced its share of carriage disputes in 2021 with Roku, Disney and NBCUniversal, Google is now back on firmer ground with all three media companies.

While Hulu Plus Live TV loses out to  YouTube TV  as the best service for the money, Hulu remains a solid second-place choice for most viewers, and superior to both FuboTV and DirecTV Stream. Hulu Live is an excellent solution for premium cord-cutting, especially if you like having "regular Hulu" built in for the same price. If you want to save some serious money though, you should opt for Sling TV Blue ($35).

What do you get?

Hulu Plus Live TV expands upon the on-demand service with more than 75 live channels and throws in both a cloud DVR and program guide guide. Live TV is available via Hulu's standard app on all the major platforms including computer browsers,  iOS , Xbox One, PS4, Android,  Apple TV ,  Fire TV ,  Roku  and Smart TV systems. 

Channels: Hulu's channel count is solid but has a handful fewer major cable channels than YouTube TV. While Hulu added a bunch of Viacom offerings, including MTV and Comedy Central, the service is still missing popular channels AMC and BBC America, which every one of Hulu's competitors offers. It's also missing PBS local stations, as well as MLB Network and NBA TV, all of which are available on YouTube TV. As a counterpoint to this, Hulu does offer the History channel, Lifetime and A&E. With the December 2021 price hike to $70, the Hulu Plus Live TV package now includes Disney Plus and ESPN Plus which is a $14 value on its own.

Sports: Just like YouTube TV, Hulu has dropped many regional sports networks, so if you want NBA or MLB regular season games, your best bet is DirecTV Stream's $85 plan. If you're a football fan, though, the recent addition of NFL Network is a sweetener. For further channel inclusions check the lineup at the end of this article, or our baseball and basketball-specific guides below, to see if the Hulu Plus Live TV's mix is right for you.

Read more: NBA streaming: Best ways to watch the basketball season live online without cable

Like its live streaming competitors Hulu has had a number of price increases since it debuted at $40, but the service's biggest gotcha is the extra $10-a-month charge for the Enhanced DVR. Without it, the standard DVR lacks the ability to fast-forward and rewind through commercials on recorded content. In addition, paying for the upgrade also increases storage from 50 to 200 hours. But with the DVR add-on, Hulu Plus Live TV becomes the most expensive of all of the services at $80.

Many people see commercial skipping as a must-have for any DVR. All of the other premium services include cloud DVRs that let you skip commercials as part of their standard functions, and the best, YouTube TV, has unlimited storage, too. In short, if you're a heavy DVR user, save yourself some money and get YouTube TV.

Read more: YouTube TV vs. Sling TV vs. Hulu vs. Philo vs. Fubo vs. DirecTV Stream: Live TV channels compared

What's it like to use?

Hulu has been tweaking the live TV interface since it launched, and the most recent changes have been the best. Previously users could only see four and a half shows at a time in a large font with no descriptions, but this has changed to a large marquee and "cover" art for all the remaining shows, which are now classified according to type. Across the major TV streaming devices, the top of the interface has a simplified selection featuring Home, Live, TV, My Stuff (favorites and DVR recordings), TV, Movies, Sports and Hubs (essentially "Channels"). In terms of user-friendliness, Hulu Plus Live TV is now in line with its biggest competitor, YouTube TV, but even more friendly on the eye. 

Hulu's program guide is a traditional grid which offers guide data, up to 14 days out, and scrolling through these pages is zippy, especially on an Apple TV. In comparison, YouTube TV's guide only displays programs up to eight hours in advance on set-top boxes, and while on web browsers YouTube offers seven days out, we found it can be painfully slow to navigate.

But it's not all good news for Hulu. Recording to the Hulu DVR is a little bit of a pain, for example, as you can only do it from the guide. If you want to record the show you're currently watching you need to exit to the guide first. Once there you need to either long-press the middle button (on Apple or Roku) or press the hamburger button and click record. Every other DVR-available service lets you record while you're still watching a program. 

Should you get it?

If you enjoy the mix of channels and don't need a DVR with commercial skipping, then Live TV could be what you're looking for. Its biggest trump card is its tight integration with the Hulu service -- if you like Hulu, you'll like Live TV. The interface is now a dressing on what was already a lovely window, especially with the zippy 14-day guide.

That said, for the same money YouTube TV offers a better service overall, and if you don't need as many channels or streaming locals (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox), Sling TV Blue offers a much cheaper rate at $35 per month.

Channel comparison

Below you'll find a chart that's a smaller version of this massive channel comparison. It contains the top 100 channels from each service. Some notes:

• Yes = The channel is available on the cheapest pricing tier.
  
• No = The channel isn't available at all on that service. 
  
• $ = The channel is available for an extra fee, either a la carte or as part of a more expensive package or add-on. 
  
• Not every channel a service carries is listed, just the "top 100" as determined by CNET's editors. Minor channels such as AXS TV, CNBC World, Discovery Life, GSN, POP and Universal Kids didn't make the cut.
• Regional sports networks -- channels devoted to showing regular-season games of particular pro baseball, basketball and hockey teams -- are not listed.