JHulu said it has added two new features to its cloud DVR that comes with its new live TV service, and marks the start of several others that will be added, based on customer feedback.
Among the new features, customers that add a show to the My Stuff section can now tell the service to record new episodes and reruns, only new episodes, or not to record that program at all.
For shows already tagged to the My Stuff area, subs can also manually change recording options on the details page. A Record Series slider there will enable users to toggle to their preference for a given program.
Those two new features are initially offered on Hulu’s apps for iOS, Apple TV (fourth-gen), Xbox, Amazon Fire TV devcies, the Nintendo Switch and 2017 Samsung smart TV models.
Hulu’s baseline live TV service starts at $39.99 per month with 50 hours of cloud DVR storage (and two streams per account), and also sells an enhanced cloud DVR service that runs $14.99 per month for 200 hours of storage and the ability to record as many shows concurrently as they want and be able to fast-forward through ads in recorded shows.
Hulu announced last month that it ended 2017 with more than 17 million total subscribers, a number that includes those who subscribe to its SVOD service as well as the live TV offering. CNBC reported recently that Hulu has about 450,000 subscribers to its live TV offering.
Hulu also announced on Reddit that it has started to test video at 60 frames per second on a select batch of channels.
Hulu noted that the faster frame rate, which can add smoothness to high-action content like sporting events, is the most-requested feature from its viewers. Notably, Hulu’s starting those tests in time for the 2018 Winter Olympics as well as March Madness.
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In phase 1 of the test, Hulu is extending 60fps for certain channels on apps for iOS mobile devcies, Apple TV, the Xbox One, Fire TV, Samsung smart TVs using the Tizen OS, and the Nintendo Switch.
In addition to available NBC affiliates and New England Channel News, the Hulu has initially tacked up support for 60p for the following channels: CNN, CNN International, HLN, TNT, TBS, TCM, TruTV, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, all Showtime channels, and about half of Hulu’s available Fox affiliates.
Hulu noted that individual Fox and NBC affiliates may temporarily revert back to a 30fps version to bring viewers “the most stable playback stream.”
