Hulu stops support for selected Android TV set-top boxes
Owners of some cord-cutting set-top boxes have suddenly found themselves without Hulu support. The live TV and on-demand video streaming service has pulled support on devices like the Channel Master Stream+, AirTV Player, and even AT&T’s Android TV-powered set-top box without any announcement or explanation. They started doing so a couple of months back and some of the other similar services may also be facing a similar fate unless Hulu clarifies things or takes it back.
The past couple of months, 9 to 5 Google says, Hulu has finally been paying attention to Android TV but it looks like the downside is that they are pulling support for set-top boxes. The AT&T box was the first to go last August, back when Hulu first introduced their redesigned app. The other two that have lost support are Stream+ and AirTV Player but this just happened the past few days. Even the recently launched AirTV Mini dongle wasn’t able to download Hulu from the Google Play Store.
One possible reason for the pulling of support is that devices like the AirTV ones are designed for Sling TV, which is one of Hulu’s biggest competitors when it comes to its own live TV service. Even the AT&T Android TV box is also designed for the carrier’s live TV service. So we see a pattern here that Hulu probably doesn’t want to support those devices that are perceived as competitors.
While there is no official statement from Hulu yet regarding this, the changes seemed to have occurred after Hulu’s Live TV service finally became available for Android TV. So it makes sense that they would want to block its service from platforms that they would consider as competitors. But that also means it’s bad news for those who have those devices and would like to still watch Hulu on demand there.
Let us wait for Hulu’s reaction to this and whether or not they will bring back support for the set-top boxes that were designed for their competitors. In the meantime, if you watch Hulu on other devices still supported, have you heard the good news? Or rather, the soon-to-become good news?
