Hulu + Live TV is getting a lot better—at no extra charge. The service just changed its DVR feature to give subscribers unlimited cloud recording space.
It looks as if Hulu is squaring up to YouTube, so what are the ins and outs of this new subscription plan?
Hulu + Live TV's New DVR Plan
As of April 13, 2022, Hulu + Live TV will offer unlimited cloud recording space for all of its plans. You don't have to pay extra to get extra storage space. Hulu stores your recordings for nine months, at which point it deletes them—but nine months is probably enough time to watch any program you record.
If you were paying extra for the Enhanced Cloud DVR plan, Hulu will automatically roll back your pricing to the basic level. You don't have to pay more for extra recording space anymore!
What Hulu + Live TV Used to Offer
Before this change, Hulu + Live TV offered just 50 hours of storage space for its cloud DVR recordings. That was for the basic plan; subscribers could pay an extra $9.99/month for the Enhanced Cloud DVR plan that upped that limit to 200 hours. Note that the limit was for all users on an account in total, not per user. If you ran over the limit, Hulu started deleting your oldest recordings; you could also delete recordings manually, of course.
Hulu's old plan wasn't out of line with its live TV streaming competitors. In comparison, DirectTV Stream offers 20 hours of recording with its basic plan, Sling TV offers 50 hours, and fuboTV offers 250 hours. YouTube TV, however, offers unlimited recording space, which no doubt influenced Hulu's recent change.
Hulu + Live TV With Unlimited DVR = Great Value for Money
This change makes Hulu + Live TV more competitive with YouTube TV. Hulu + Live TV still costs a little more ($69.99/month vs. $64.99/month for YouTube TV's basic plan) but you get the traditional Hulu on-demand service plus Disney+ and ESPN+ for the same price. You'd have to pay up to $22/month for those three services on top of a YouTube TV subscription. That makes Hulu + Live TV—now with unlimited cloud DVR—arguably the best streaming value out there.