Hulu offers both on-demand and live TV streaming through its platform. For Hulu subscribers with the Hulu + Live TV plan, accessing live television is quick and easy across devices. Here is a guide on how to directly launch live TV when using the Hulu app.
Table of Contents
Accessing Live TV on Mobile and Web
On both mobile devices and web browsers, simply navigate to the “Live TV” tab or icon to directly access live television streaming:
- Mobile App: Open the Hulu app and tap the “Live TV” icon on the bottom toolbar. This will immediately begin playing the last live TV channel you viewed [[1]][[2]].
- Website: Go to www.hulu.com and click “Live TV” in the top navigation bar next to “Home” and “Browse”. The website will load the live feed of your most recently watched channel [[3]].
Once the live video player loads, you can access the channel guide by selecting the menu icon in the bottom left corner. This will display the full channel lineup so you can easily change the live station [[4]].
Accessing Live TV on Streaming Devices
The process is just as simple to launch live TV on streaming platforms and smart TVs:
- Roku: From the Home screen, select the Hulu app tile. Choose “Live TV” from the horizontal navigation bar at the top [[5]].
- Apple TV: Open the Hulu app and swipe up on the touchpad during video playback. This will display the “Live TV” menu option to select [[7]].
- Fire TV: Scroll down on the main Hulu screen to “Live TV” and select it [[1]].
- Smart TVs: Launch the Hulu app and select the “Live TV” icon from the top or side navigation menu [[11]].
Once live TV loads, you can access the channel guide to browse and select specific stations.
Customizing Hulu to Default to Live TV
If you primarily use Hulu to watch live TV, you can set the app to automatically open to the Live TV screen:
- Mobile: There is currently no setting to default to Live TV on mobile. You need to manually select Live TV each time.
- Roku: Go to Home > Settings > Hulu > Screensaver > Off. This will prevent the app from opening to a screensaver and go right to Live TV [[20]].
- Fire TV and Apple TV: Unfortunately there is no setting to default launch to Live TV on these platforms [[9]]. You need to manually access Live TV instead.
- Smart TVs: Check your TV settings menu for an option to customize app launch behaviors. If available, choose to open Hulu directly to Live TV.
So accessing Live TV on Hulu is very simple across all major devices – just select the Live TV menu option as soon as you launch the app. And some platforms allow you to bypass the Home screen entirely for a true direct to live TV experience.
References
[[1]] https://help.hulu.com/s/article/guide
[[2]] https://www.hulu.com
[[3]] https://help.hulu.com/s/article/navigating-hulu
[[4]] https://help.hulu.com/s/article/keyboard-controls
[[5]] https://community.hulu.com/s/question/0D55f00001t9r3bCAA/defaulting-to-live-tv-when-opening
[[6]] https://help.hulu.com/s/article/what-is-hulu
[[7]] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kwEXZvAwTE
[[8]] https://www.howtogeek.com/670424/keyboard-shortcuts-for-hulu-a-cheat-sheet/
[[9]] https://community.hulu.com/s/ideafeed/a3y1L000000kiWwQAI/need-option-to-default-open-hulu-app-to-live-tv-and-resume-last-station
[[10]] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?hl=en_US&id=com.hulu.plus
[[11]] https://help.hulu.com/s/article/watching-hulu-on-site
[[12]] https://community.hulu.com/s/question/0D55f00000GSqv9CAD/how-do-i-put-a-hulu-shortcut-on-my-desktop
[[13]] https://www.hulu.com/live-tv
[[14]] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hulu-watch-tv-shows-movies/id376510438
[[15]] https://www.reddit.com/r/Hulu/comments/10evu2k/best_practices_for_navigating_hulu/?rdt=38472
[[16]] https://community.hulu.com/s/ideafeed/a3y1L000000kjMTQAY/keyboard-shortcuts
[[17]] https://www.hellotech.com/guide/for/how-to-watch-live-tv-on-hulu
[[18]] https://help.hulu.com/s/article/what-is-hulu-live-tv
[[19]] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7i6cYtldkwE
[[20]] https://community.hulu.com/s/question/0D55f00001un272CAA/detail
[[21]] https://help.hulu.com/s/article/getting-started
[[22]] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi5NCg0JOsc
[[23]] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJCADSPOZq0
[[24]] https://www.hulu.com/start/klay-livetv
[[25]] https://marshmallowstreaming.com/howto/hulu-live-tv