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Hulu + Live TV is the latest streaming service to be hit by a price increase.
The price of Hulu + Live TV will rise to $54.99 per month starting from December 18, 2019.
The company says this increase is to better “reflects the substantial value” it offers.
Hulu + Live TV gets a $10 price hike
Hulu has confirmed the price increase will take effect starting from December 2019.
The company did not specify whether the price rise is only applicable to new customers. This would suggest it will be a subscriber-wide price increase. If you are already a subscriber then it seems highly likely this price increase will affect you.
In explaining the price rise, Hulu points out that its service offers more value than others due to the combination of the live TV element and the access to Hulu’s on demand service. Nothing is changing in this respect and Hulu says the increase is to allow it to continue to offer the same quality of product it has before.
Hulu did acknowledge that price increases “are never easy to stomach.” Adding that some consumers might be better off switching on and off the live TV access as and when needed. The company even said it is now making the ability to switch between its live TV and non-live subscriptions even easier.
In addition, Hulu also hinted at some other options that might become available in the future. Specifically, Hulu stated how it is “actively exploring ways to provide additional, more tailored live TV options.”
However, the company did not provide any additional details on these options.
Another service, another price rise
2019 has seen its fair share of price increases. AT&T TV NOW (albeit as DIRECTV NOW), fuboTV, PlayStation Vue, Sling TV and YouTube TV have all raised their prices this year.
In fact, so has Hulu. It was only at the start of 2019 when Hulu announced a $5 price increase to its + live TV service.
Therefore, not only does this latest price increase make it Hulu’s second of the year, but it’s also twice the amount of the first increase.
While current Hulu subscribers are unlikely to be happy with this change, the increase is not out of kilter with the rest of the market. As a result, switching live TV services is unlikely to see any substantial services. Especially if the same subscriber intends to then pay for the standalone Hulu subscription on top of the cost of a competing live TV service.
Or, if they already happen to have bundled their Hulu subscription with the newly-launched Disney+ streaming service.