Setting Up Email Alert for Hulu Plus

Log into your Hulu Plus account at www.hulul.com/plus and in the upper right hand corner you will see your "Welcome" name. 

In the drop down menu, select "Account" and a new page asking you to re-enter your Email will appear.  After doing so, the Log-in information will appear along with a list of your supported devices, billing information, and an area where, if you need to put your account on hold, is also included.  

In the top row of tabs, select "Content."  Here you will be able to view your queued shows, change their settings, and delete your watched history.

Wondering how to put a show in Queue?  Perhaps you'd like to set the ABC's comedy, "Last Man Standing" in the Queue so you don't miss an up-coming episode of the current season.  Simply hover your mouse over the title and a pop-up will appear with the option to view the show details, or add it to Queue.  Select “Add it to Queue” and when you return to your account in the upper right hand corner, click "Queue" on the drop down menu.  When the page opens you will see the new queued show listed at the top.

And finally, if you'd like to receive an email alerting you when a new episode has been added to your Queue, simply open up your "Favorites" tab and in the column next to the show of your choice select "edit settings" and a pop-up will appear in which you can make a selection to receive an alert for "All" or "New episodes only."  Make your selection, click the submit button, and you're all set!

As always, questions and comments are welcome.
Browse, click, stream ... and enjoy!

Hulu Plus

Dishing up my Favorite Á la carte

From the hundreds of channels offered on the Roku player, we have added about thirty-five channels.   The difference between watching only a handful of channels on the Roku as opposed to watching only a handful from our satellite provider is the quality of programs and the price.  We have reduced our monthly bill from near $90 to a mere $7.99, and have no contracts.

Like most viewers, we have a handful of favorites we enjoy watching.  During the summer when we were subscribed to satellite, we often found ourselves surfing channels looking for something to fill the slot until the season premiere of our show resumed the end of September.  What makes the Roku different is the availability of new original shows, or even old shows you might not have seen.  Our favorite channel for locating something new is Hulu Plus.  

Nearly all of our favorites are streamed through the Hulu Plus channel for $7.99 a month.  These include the popular shows Nashville, Motive, Grey’s Anatomy, Mistresses, Vampire Diaries, and even This Old House.  Without a doubt, HuluPlus is our main viewing channel.  We recently watched the first two seasons of “Downton Abbey,” and we are currently watching “The Tudors,” “Heroes,” and “The City” – and it’s summer!

From talking with others who also use the Roku, one of the things they most enjoy is the ability to watch one episode after another of a series from start to finish.  If you never saw Lost, Ally McBeal, Desperate Housewives, Private Practice (the list goes on and on), you can watch the entire series from start to finish in marathon fashion or as if you were watching the series on a DVD.  Hulu Plus even remembers where you left off, and keeps a history of the shows you watched in case you can’t remember.

You can also add shows to your Queue.  You can request that only new episodes be added, or you can select all episodes.  Similar to your DVR recording your show and making it available for viewing, the queue will alert you if a new episode of your favorite is available.  For instance, Mistresses, which premiered in June of 2013 starring Alyssa Milano and a cast of other great actors, airs on Monday.  The following day, Hulu Plus sends me an email alerting me that a new episode has aired and is available in my Queue.

That’s the beauty of the Roku.  It’s all about choice.  It’s the a la carte you can’t get from your cable or satellite provider, and it offers you a selection of programs you might never have considered.

So yes, we’ll take the Roku with a generous serving of Hulu Plus a la carte. No need to fill ourselves up on an expensive satellite buffet which excludes beverage, dessert, our favorite entrée – and apparently is our only choice for the next twenty-four months unless we want to pay more.

Á la carte, please!

Navigation and Content

Streaming content to your television from your Roku player requires little more than a decent internet connection.  Living in a rural area, we don’t have lightning speed internet.  A test this morning indicates a download speed of just over 3Mbps, which is really at the lower end of internet speeds now available, yet we are still able to happily stream our programs.

Unlike conventional TV programming, the majority of the content is not live or same day stream.  Most of the programs, however, are available the day after they have aired and contain only very short, limited, commercials.  Like most who have enjoyed the DVR technology, we typically recorded our shows and watched them at a later, more convenient time, so next day availability has never been an issue.

The channels available on the Roku player now number over 750 channels, many of which are free.  As I noted in my first post, “Thinking About Cutting the Cord?” we subscribe to Hulu Plus and watch much of our content from that channel.  For news clips and live coverage, we tune into CNN International, RT America, WSJ Live, and the Huffington Post Live.  Roku also offers dozens of music channels.  We listen to free Pandora, but others include Plex, Vevo, Slacker, and Spotify to name a few.  If you are looking to rent or own a movie, there are channels for Netflix, Vudu, Amazon Instant, Blockbuster and Redbox.

When you turn on your television and click the Home key of your Roku remote, an option appears for The Channel Store.  Clicking this displays a screen of familiar icons sorted by categories such as New, Popular, TV and Movie, News, Weather, Music, etc.  Simply add the channels of interest to you, and you are quickly on your way to viewing television in a new and liberating way.

In future posts I’ll discuss specific channels, popular shows, and how to access them.  If you can browse the web or use a remote, you have the knowledge and ability to stream your programs to any television which has been connected to a Roku player.  It’s as easy as that.

Browse, click and enjoy.

Thinking About Cutting the Cord?

In October of 2012 my husband and I cut the satellite cord, and I’m here to blog about the experience.

Dissatisfied with the tier of programming offered, the continual rise in subscription rates, and the mandatory contract which renewed with every single change made to our subscription, we had decided enough was enough.  We aren't sport fans, we don’t like reality shows, and we don’t speak Spanish – so this ruled out many of the channels we were paying for.  When it came down to it, we realized there were only a handful of TV programs we actually enjoyed watching and yet we were paying just under $90 a month for a "choice" package, one DVR, HD and an additional TV.

Total Choice?  Not exactly.  If it were our choice, we would be able to select a certain number of channels and create our own package, or pay a set price per channel.  But subscribers of satellite and cable know that is not how it works.  The satellite and cable companies select the channels and offer packages that are always lacking channels that are only available in their next tier or package.  And then they lock us into a contract.

Sound all too familiar?

Our contract had expired and we were suddenly free to explore options.  Before cutting the cord, we started scouring the web for information on streaming devices and settled on the Roku2 XD which we purchased at our local Walmart for $79.99 plus tax.  Set up was a few simple steps: 1) Connect one end of the HDMI cable (not included) to the Roku player and one end to the HDMI port on the TV;  2) insert the batteries (included) into the Roku remote; 3) connect the power cord to the Roku device and wall outlet; 4) configure your wireless network which is automatically detected; and 5) link the Roku player to your Roku account and you’re good to go.    

We cut the cord the following month and have no regrets.  We were so happy with our choice that we bought a second Roku for our bedroom, and sent another as a gift.  Since then, we've recommended streaming to anyone who will listen and they are now among the happy streamers who have cut the cord.

Aside from the Roku player, we subscribed to Hulu Plus for $7.99 a month and bought an annual subscription to PlayOn which was on sale at the time for $29.99.   To summarize – for a little more than one month’s subscription to our satellite provider, we are now able to view almost everything we watched before we cut the cord ... and it costs us all of $7.99 a month.  Why pay more?

I’ll be writing about what’s available to view and the current events that continue to change the way TV is viewed with the hope of  encouraging others to cut the cord and make a choice that is truly their own.

Your questions and comments will help determine future blogs, so please feel free to post questions and comments, and I'll happily reply.

Click, browse, and enjoy!

Note: Roku and the Roku logo are registered trademarks of Roku, Inc. in the United States and other countries.