How to Record a Show on Hulu Live

We might be living in the era of streaming, but live TV is not completely dead just yet. One of the prime examples that show live TV is alive and kicking is the popularity of the live TV feature on Hulu.

If you are old-school in this respect, however, you might want to record a show if you can’t catch it. Hulu has gone out of its way to provide you with excellent features in this department.

Many people, however, are still unaware of this feature. So, with this crowd in mind, let’s see how you can record a show on Hulu live.

Various Devices

You’re probably aware that online services come in different shapes and sizes for various platforms. The live TV version of Hulu is available across a wide variety of devices, from iPhones and iPads to Android and Apple TVs.

Fortunately, live recording works similarly across all supported platforms.

How to Record Hulu for Live TV

Live recording on Hulu requires adding a live TV program to My stuff. So, there is no need to bother with recording a program manually. Everything you add to My stuff will be recorded automatically when aired. Plus, you’ll be able to stream it later at any time (more on this later). For now, let’s see how to record Hulu for Live TV.

1. Open the Hulu app (iOS), Hulu for Live TV (most other supported devices), or open it inside a browser
2. Go through the Live TV program options and find the program that you want to record
3. Navigate to the Description screen of said program
4. Select My stuff or My episodes (depending on what’s displayed on your device)

Once you’ve done this, the program will automatically be recorded when it airs. The recording is stored in your Cloud DVR.

Recording Options

The fact that you’ve added a piece of content to My stuff/My episodes doesn’t mean that you have to record it. This section actually serves as quick access to that content.

Whenever you add a program to My stuff/My episodes, it will automatically record new content once aired. However, you can toggle the Record series option off to avoid cluttering the Cloud DVR (more on this later).

The same goes for your favorite sports teams. Add your team to My stuff/My episodes and Hulu will automatically record every one of your team’s games. Switch off the Record games feature and follow your teams’ events.

Streaming Recorded Content

Naturally, after your show/movie/sports event is recorded, you’ll want to access and watch it. As long as the content remains on your Cloud DVR (think of it as your personal cloud storage space for now), you can access the recorded program and stream it at any time. Here’s how to access your recorded content.

1. Open the Hulu app
2. Go to My stuff/My episodes. The location of this feature depends on the device, but look for an icon representing a white square with a checkmark
3. You’ll find two available options – TV shows and Movies (sports and news programs and such are located under TV shows)
4. Now, simply select the recorded content that you want to watch and play it

Deleting the Content

Your Cloud DVR storage space is limited. So, if you plan on recording a lot of live TV, you’re going to have to start deleting stuff pretty soon. Luckily, deleting content is as easy as recording.

1. Open the Hulu app
2. Navigate to My stuff/My episodes
3. Go to the right on the horizontal menu and select Manage DVR
4. On the list of content that you’ve recorded, select Remove next to the program that you want to delete
5. Confirm deletion
6. Repeat for more

Keep in mind that you won’t get an “out of storage space” notification on Hulu. The app will automatically start deleting the oldest recorded content as it records something new. This is a good thing if you don’t care too much about the recorded content after you’ve seen it. However, if you want to keep a memorable game, for example, consider downloading it from Hulu’s Cloud DVR.

What Is Cloud DVR

Every Hulu Live TV account gets an amount of online storage space, not unlike the hard drive of an old DVR machine.

Basic Hulu Live TV accounts get 50 hours of storage on Cloud DVR. This is for a subscription that costs $40 per month. For most people, 50 hours of content is more than enough, seeing as you can delete programs as you please, and the app automatically overwrites old content.

However, for an additional $15 per month, you get 200 hours with the Enhanced Cloud DVR plan for four times the storage capacity.

Cloud DVR Support

In addition to having a Hulu Live TV subscription, you need a device that supports Cloud DVR to record the content and store it online. Although there are many supported devices, here’s a detailed list, just to be safe.

1. Android TV (select models)
2. Android phones/tablets
3. Chromecast
4. Fire TV and Fire TV Stick
5. Fire Tablets
6. Echo Show
7. iOS devices
8. Apple TV (4th generation or later)
9. LG TV (select models)
10. Samsung TV (select models)
11. VIZIO SmartCast TVs
12. Nintendo Switch
13. PlayStation
14. Xbox
15. Roku devices
16. Xfinity Flex Streaming TV Box
17. Xfinity X1 TV Boxes

Additional FAQ

Can you start a show over on Hulu Live TV?

Unfortunately, unless you’ve recorded the first episode of a show when it broadcasted live, you won’t be able to watch it later. You can keep an eye out for a rerun, but be sure to add the show to My stuff or My episodes, as explained in this guide. However, on the off-chance that the show is available on the Hulu streaming platform, you can try to find it on Hulu’s regular streaming list.

Why is Hulu only playing ends of episodes?

This is an ongoing issue with some Hulu users. It is unclear why this problem occurs, but there is a workaround that will help you enjoy your Hulu time unbothered by this frustrating problem. Namely, this issue occurs when you try re-watching a series that you’ve previously seen. So, go to the series that causes this issue and open its sub-menu. Navigate to manage series (represented by a cogwheel icon) and proceed to erase the series’ entire watch history. This should help you get rid of the problem.

Does Hulu ask if you’re still watching?

You might have noticed that some streaming services auto-pause a stream after a number of episodes. For Netflix, for example, this number is three episodes. Many users aren’t crazy about this feature, as you can imagine. Fortunately, Hulu doesn’t ask you if you’re still watching. It keeps auto-playing the episodes until you stop it.

Can you record two shows at once on Hulu live?

Not only does Hulu’s Cloud DVR feature allow you to record two shows at once, but it allows you to record an infinite number of shows. As long as you add a show/movie/broadcast to My stuff or My episodes (depending on the device), it will have it recorded to Hulu’s cloud storage. Bear in mind, however, that when the storage limit is exceeded, the service will start automatically recording your content.

How many devices can watch Hulu at the same time?

If you subscribe to Hulu with Ads or Hulu’s ad-free plan, you are limited to two simultaneous streams at a time. This means that only two devices can use Hulu at the same time. However, any package that includes Hulu Live TV gives you an option to spend an additional $9.99 per month to remove the simultaneous watching limit. That’s right, if you pay for the $9.99 package on top of any Hulu Live TV plan, you get to stream Hulu on as many devices as you want.

Hulu Live TV Recording

Hulu has made recording the content on Live TV extremely straightforward. You don’t even have to think about it, as long as you add a movie, show, or game to your My stuff or My episodes list. Follow this guide and you’ll quickly get used to the whole thing.

We hope that we’ve provided you with answers to all of the questions you had about Hulu Live TV plans. If you have more to add or ask, go to the comments section below and chime in. Our community would be more than happy to help.