Hulu Offers Offline Viewing With A Catch

This is one of those stories that you’re wondering why the hell it took so long. On Monday, it was announced that Hulu offers offline viewing. I mean, we can say that this was one of those stories that make you scratch your head. Yeah, Hulu was the last holdout. Now, some will blame Disney for it (since people have a short memory issue), but it was an issue with everyone involved. I mean, it was a huge problem since everyone else has had it for years. Its days like this you wish there was “sarcastic font”.

Now, before you rush over to start downloading shit to your mobile device, there is a major caveat: you need to have the $11/month no-ads (but still some ads) plan. Yeah, if you have the cheap ass plan (as I do), which is $6/month, you’re out of luck. Don’t get me wrong, now that Hulu offers offline viewing is a great thing for people with data caps on their devices, but you will need to pony up.

Hulu offers offline viewing
In case you needed a pie chart to see how to download?

In an effort to be fair, CBS All Access offers the same option. If you want to view content offline, you will need their $10/month plan. Obviously, it is a buck cheaper than Hulu, which I never understood why they were so expensive. It wasn’t that long ago when it was $7/month for their “cheap ass plan.” Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have been offering it for a long time.

Earlier, I said that there are “still some ads” though, that comes from Hulu’s own FAQ:

Hulu Offers Offline Viewing

So, if you want to watch those popular shows without commercials (although I would rethink Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD as a popular show), you’re out of luck. However, they will show commercials at the beginning and the end of the show. So that’s something, right?

Among the shows you’ll be able to watch offline are Hulu Originals such as The Handmaid’s Tale, Shrill, Veronica Mars and The Act, as well as the likes of Family Guy, This is Us, How I Met Your Mother and ER. You can download 25 titles at a time across five devices. You’ll have 30 days to watch them, though you’ll be able to renew your downloads as long as those titles are still on Hulu. Again, like Netflix or Amazon.

It is a huge incentive for people to jump on their no-ad plan. While Hulu offers offline viewing with their top-tier plan, Disney+ and Apple TV+ are both offering the option right out the gate. I guess the bigger question is why did it take so long? Probably because everyone wanted their ad-revenue, but since Disney has it – this is their way of saying we hear you.

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