Hulu

Since it launched a year ago, Hulu's live TV service has had its share of complaints about the interface. In particular, it's been tough to find what's actually on now.

Today the company introduces a new tab that should be familiar to anyone used to a cable TV or satellite box. Hulu calls it a live guide, and it's basically a slicker, less-cluttered version of a standard grid-style electronic program guide (EPG).

Available to subscribers today on Hulu's app for Apple TV, Fire TV, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the guide can be accessed by a "Live TV" lightning bolt tab at the top of the home screen. Rather than a full-on grid, it shows what's playing now on five channels at a time in a vertical stack, but only the currently selected channel extends to the right to display future shows.

Hulu with live TV starts at $40 per month and includes full access to traditional Hulu -- which currently costs $8 per month -- as well as live TV from local channels ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC in select cities plus a solid slate of cable channels, including ESPN, CNN, TNT, Bravo, HGTV, Cartoon Network, Lifetime, the Disney Channel and more (Disclosure: CBS is the parent company of CNET and Showtime.) You also get 50 hours' worth of cloud DVR storage, although you'll have to pay extra to skip commercials.

Hulu

In my quick spin on an Apple TV the live guide was nice and responsive, and I particularly liked the ability to quickly record future shows with a tap. But it only extended a day into the future, and I would have liked the ability for the expanded "more info" view, which shows a description of the episode, to remain onscreen while I flipped down through the channel list.

The guide can be set to display either all of the channels available or just the 10 most recent ones. Unlike the guide on PlayStation Vue and DirecTV Now, you can't manually designate favorite channels.

Hulu did not announce when the Live Guide would be available on other platforms, like Roku or Samsung and LG smart TVs.