Hulu: Online TV With Organization
This is the fourth review in our series of web TV applications. For an introduction to this category please check out TV Online: Web 2.0 Television.
As we investigated the elements common to TV applications, Hulu emerged as a remarkably easy to use and a strong choice for TV and movie watchers. Starting with a clean layout of content on a white background, the best feature of Hulu is certainly the navigation, which offers a multitude of options for viewers.
Helping you find what you’re looking for is the first layer of navigation in Hulu - the gray navigation bar on top. In it are the broad sweeps to get you to areas of your choice; channels (such as comedy, drama, horror, and so on), the most popular videos, High Defintion gallery, Collections (grouped clips or videos), Spotlighted video, and Recently Added. Beneath this on the main page are the most recent of the videos in the former categories paired with screenshots. Once we’ve selected what type we would like (TV or movies), other options open up. For example, if we choose TV we get the option to select by network or alphabetical. Once we’ve narrowed our choice by selecting one of these options the results are displayed with screenshots and the most recent first. Additional filters for our selection are on the left of the page, showing channels and programming type (movies, full TV, clips). If this weren’t enough to get you on to the right video selection, they also have a search field.
For users all these navigational tools mean that finding the content you like is easier than ever, even if you’ve forgotten the name. The next advantage to Hulu is the update schedule, which puts fresh content up daily (TV shows go up that night or next day). Fans of TV series will also like show pages, where there are clips, episode lists, and cast information. To help you keep up with your favorite shows Hulu also has widgets (player, show, and picks) that you can embed into your OS, iGoogle, or NetVibes, and subscriptions which will put new episodes into your queue.
The downside to Hulu is that, as per its arrangement with that channel or distributor, content may only be available for a short time. To help with this Hulu has a line below the screenshot saying how many days are left, but users that miss a show on Hulu have truly missed the show. The other detraction from Hulu are the commercials which are placed in the shows, which must be played in order to watch the remainder of the show (skipping ahead just plays the commercial). International users may also be unable to view Hulu content, depending on distribution arrangements.
Even with a limited playing time and commercials, Hulu is a strong application for TV watching, and for users looking to avoid the HD TV, there is the Listo search: watch+TV.
Previously in this series: Joost: Shows, Music, and Film Online
Next in this series: Comparing Online TV: Hulu, Joost, Fancast and Veoh
Application: HuluListio Profile: http://www.listio.com/web20/app/Hulu/
Website: http://www.hulu.com
New to Listio? Our tag cloud search offers an easy way to narrow your hunt for the perfect web application or service. No more second guessing of search terms. Just click on one tag, then as many more as you'd like to narrow your search results. It's easy and ensures you get to the listing you want. Finding web 2.0 was never so easy.
Tags: online, TV, watch, widgets
Posted in: TV | Respond
Bookmark & Share: 
