Hulu Live is coming and last week a select few got to see it in person at CES. Hulu seems to be taking a very different approach to its live TV streaming service than Sling TV, DIRECTV NOW, or PlayStation Vue.
Hulu has traditionally been a service that puts on-demand content first, and now it seems Hulu Live will also put on-demand content first.
According to Janko Roettgers, a reporter for Variety, the new Hulu Live service is different than what you may be expecting. According to his post, “There’s also no traditional grid guide, and you won’t be able to flip through channels like you might with a cable remote.” Roettgers went on to say, “That’s because, at it’s core, Hulu still defines itself as a video subscription service—only one that now also offers access to live TV.”
“It’s a very familiar experience for SVOD users,” said Hulu VP of Product Richard Irving while demonstrating the new experience to Variety at CES in Las Vegas last week. “We want this to be great for SVOD and live as well.”
You can clearly see this in all of the screenshots Hulu has released. Content is first, and if it happens to be live on a channel it will show that but live is clearly a secondary focus.
Unlike Sling TV, PlayStation Vue, or DIRECTV NOW who focus on putting the live channels first and on-demand second Hulu is flipping this around. You have to respect the effort here from Hulu to recognize that American viewing habits are changing. The only question now is will this new system of showing on-demand first and live second pay off for Hulu.
Source: Variety
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