The price of Hulu Live TV will increase to $64.99 per month, starting from December 18. This is the latest example of the escalating cost of accessing live TV channels over the internet. The increase in price will affect everyone who subscribes to Hulu’s live TV service.
Hulu Live TV has not been around as long as some other services, but that hasn’t’ stopped the price increases from coming. Initially available for just $39.99, the service encountered two price increases in 2019, bringing the overall cost up to the current $54.99 per month. This latest increase comes almost one year after the last and once again, increases the cost by another $10 per month.
Hulu is currently confirming to existing subscribers that starting from December 18, the cost of their live TV subscription will increase to $64.99 per month. The exact date will vary depending on an individual’s billing cycle, but all Hulu plus live TV subscribers should expect to see the price rise take effect before the end of December, 2020.
In addition, the company has also now updated its help page to reflect the upcoming change. The updated post explains that as this price hike affects the main live TV plan, it also affects the cost of the other Hulu Live TV plans as well.
Hulu losing a competitive advantage
Although Hulu is not the cheapest live TV streaming service, it is a hugely popular one. One of the reasons for this was the value on offer. At $54.99 per month, and including the basic Hulu subscription, Hulu + Live TV offered a lot of value for the price. More importantly, it did so at a cheaper price than YouTube TV. That’s no longer the case.
At the higher $64.99 per month cost, Hulu Live TV is no longer any cheaper than YouTube TV. Technically, it remains a cheaper option for anyone who is subscribing to basic Hulu anyway, as the $64.99 per month price includes the $5.99 per month subscription. Although there are caveats to that.
For example, YouTube TV includes an unlimited cloud DVR while Hulu caps its DVR at 50 hours. That’s unless the subscriber adds the Enhanced Cloud DVR add-on. While this takes the total number of hours to 200, it also costs an additional $9.99 per month, unless bundled with the Unlimited Screens add-on as well.
When taking into consideration the basic Hulu subscription and additional cloud DVR cost, Hulu becomes a more expensive option. For those less concerned about how many recording hours they have, Hulu Live TV may still be a cheaper option than YouTube TV, albeit only to the tune of a basic Hulu subscription.
Source: Hulu
