Hulu is increasing the cost of its Live TV package by $10, though its other plans remain unaffected for now. It comes not long after competitor Netflix increased its own prices in the US, suggesting that more changes are likely to come industry-wide.
Hulu Live TV Now Costs $10 More
From December 18, 2020, the cost of the Hulu + Live TV package will increase from $54.99 a month to $64.99, an almost 18% increase. This will come into effect for both existing and new subscribers.
Equally, the Hulu (No Ads) + Live plan will increase by $10, from $60.99 a month to $70.99.
The two Live TV packages give you access not only to Hulu’s on-demand library, but also to TV channels and networks like CNN and ESPN.
Other Hulu plans, which start at $5.99 a month for on-demand viewing supported by ads, are keeping their existing prices for now.
Hulu + Live TV first launched in May 2017 at a cost of $39.99 a month. The last increase for that package came a year prior to when the new changes are coming—December 18, 2019, when they went from $44.99 to $54.99.
What Are Competitors Doing?
One of the reasons that Hulu is increasing prices is because it has added more channels. It now makes the service cost the same as YouTube TV, which itself raised prices earlier this year, and is the closest competitor in terms of content offered.
While other live TV providers exist, like Sling TV which starts at $29.99 a month, Hulu and YouTube TV lead the pack when it comes to depth.
Hulu has more than four million subscribers for its Live TV packages alone (and 36.6 million for the service as a whole), which is one million more YouTube TV.
Hulu’s live service grew by 41% in the last year, a boom that can no doubt be put down to the coronavirus pandemic—more people stuck inside looking for entertainment makes for more willing customers.
While all these live TV packages are meant to be a replacement for cable, which itself is notorious for the expense, these continual price increases for streaming services may cause customers to question the value. For now, though, the market seems to be holding.
We can likely expect to see other streaming services raise prices globally. In fact, it was only at the end of October 2020 that Netflix raised the price of some of its plans.
As content gets more expensive to license, and these services want to provide more of it to stand out from the crowd, it’s an expense that is going to be passed down to us.