Hulu is once again raising prices on its Hulu + Live TV streaming service, the latest price increase among streaming services.
As more Americans cut the cord, streaming services are the obvious choice for a replacement. Unfortunately, streaming services have increasingly started to look like the very cable TV packages they were designed to replace—bloated and expensive, with regular price hikes.
Hulu is the latest, raising the cost of its Hulu + Live TV service to $64.99 from the current $54.99. Customers wanting to eliminate ads, for the on-demand content, will have to fork over $70.99 a month, up from the current $60.99. The increase is set to go into effect on December 18.
At the end of June, YouTube TV raised its price from $50 to $64.99. Around the same time, fuboTV raised the price of its Family plan to $64.99 when it struck a deal to carry Disney’s lineup. Although the company technically still offers its $59.99 Standard plan, it is buried on the company’s website, as fuboTV is clearly promoting the Family plan instead.
Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV and fuboTV are increasingly being seen as the most full-featured cable TV replacements available. All three offer competitive channel lineups, digital DVRs and other features, but Hulu has been the most competitively priced one of the three, giving it a significant advantage. With its price increase, however, Hulu is giving up that advantage.
In late October, T-Mobile unveiled its take on streaming TV, TVision. TVision live TV plans start at just $40 per month for T-Mobile customers, although it may be more for non-T-Mobile customers. One of the advertised selling points of TVision’s service is “no exploding plans.” If the company continues to offer its service for a cheaper price, and not raise that price, it may suddenly become the streaming service to beat.