Each week, The Nevada Sagebrush staff decides on a topic that is either overrated or underrated. Our opinion section then writes this column about the outcome. For suggestions for The Over/Under, tweet them to us @NevadaSagebrush.
Since streaming movies and television became normal everyday activities, Netflix has always been the leader of the pack. Their never ending cinema choices meant you could always find something to watch that you’d enjoy.
A Hulu technician answers questions during OSCON in 2013. Hulu is an underrated streaming service which has better content than Netflix.
Garrett Heath/Flickr
But as the years went on, Netflix became more frustratingly boring with repetitive titles and constant low budget movies. Hulu is the underdog of streaming services, and is ultimately the best.
Hulu is the better streaming service for many reasons. They have an array of original movies and series, while also having movies that are available to be streamed as soon as they’re out of the theater. Hulu is somehow deemed to be the little sister compared to Netflix, but in the last few years, they’ve brought more to streaming media than ever before.
As a college student, it’s hard to watch live shows. You either have to have your own cable log in, or know your parent’s log in. When there are so many worthwhile shows on television – like “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” – you want to be able to watch these shows as up to date as possible. Hulu allows you to do that because of their contracts with ABC, NBC and Fox. Through Hulu, you have access to a lot of network TV shows about five hours after they air on live TV. This is so convenient because instead of dealing with individual network streaming applications, all you need to do is log on to Hulu to watch your favorite shows.
Hulu tries their best to make sure the people who are in need of streaming services can afford them. In 2017, Hulu and popular music streaming service Spotify, bundled their streaming services together and offered them to students for the low rate of $5.99/month. The duo now added Showtime in to their deal, which means students on low budgets can afford to get three different streaming services for almost two dollars apiece.
Hulu started getting smarter when it comes to sitcoms people love. When Netflix drops a series, Hulu is quickly behind to pick it up. They picked up teen favorites like “One Tree Hill” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as well as most of the Fox lineup. But, the same thing happened when Hulu and the CW’s contract ended, and all of the CW shows made their way to Netflix.
Netflix has made some poor decisions lately. In December, the streaming service paid over $100 Million to keep the aged sitcom “Friends” because there was a huge outcry over it’s removal from fans of the show. Less than a month later, Netflix announced they were raising their prices. Netflix originals are a hit or a miss. The Netflix original, “Stranger Things” was one of the best reviewed and awarded shows, while the rocky comedy “Fuller House” was cancelled after five seasons.
Don’t get me wrong, Netflix is still cool, we’re lucky to get “Bojack Horseman” out of it, but Hulu is the streaming service we deserve.
Opinions expressed in The Nevada Sagebrush are solely those of the author and do not necessarily express the views of The Sagebrush or of its staff. Jacey Gonzalez studies journalism and can be reached at jaceygonzalez@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @NevadaSagebrush.
