Hulu live announces price hike — and subscribers are angrily sounding off
Hulu’s live TV is hopping aboard the streaming price hike bandwagon during the pandemic, following in the footsteps of Netflix, which raised its prices in October, McClatchy News reported. Hulu is raising the cost of its live TV service from $54.99 to $64.99 — an 18 percent leap — starting Dec. 18.
This announcement comes days after Disney CEO Bob Chapek “praised Hulu’s live TV offering during the company’s call,” Deadline reported. As of Sept. 30, Disney reported that the popular streaming service’s live subscribers hit 4.1 million, according to Deadline.
The battle of the streaming services has been ongoing throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, which has seen people ditch their basic TV plans for more cost-efficient services such as Hulu and Netflix. Hulu live became the option of those who wanted to cut the cord, but keep news and live sports, at a lower cost. Originally, Hulu live cost $44.99 but jumped to $54.99 on Dec. 18, 2019.
Hulu live is competing with YouTube TV in terms of a virtual live TV bundle, which is also $64.99.
A lot of viewers and fans of Hulu’s streaming service were not thrilled with the price hike.
According to Deadline, Hulu lost money during the third quarter due to the coronavirus, but streaming “exceeded expectations in the streaming arena.” “I’m a personal big fan of it,” Chapek said of Hulu + Live TV, Deadline reported. “I use it. And it’s really slick. It’s very elegant, and it really is a big solution provider. It’s really the complete solution, I think. So we’re excited about that in terms of solving a consumer need for those consumers as you mentioned that have all walked away from that particular way of distributing and receiving content.”
This story was originally published November 16, 2020 at 1:59 PM with the headline "Hulu live announces price hike — and subscribers are angrily sounding off."