Hulu Announces a $1 Price Hike on All On-Demand Plans
Published on September 8, 2021
- Hulu will bump all its on-demand tiers by $1 per month, or $12 over the duration of a yearly subscription.
- This is the first time the service hikes the prices since 2015, and it’s part of Disney’s new business strategy.
- Essentially, everyone is pushed towards choosing the Disney+, Hulu, ESPN Plus bundle now.
Disney’s Hulu is raising the prices for the ad-supported and commercial-free on-demand plans by $1 per month for all new subscriptions starting on October 8, 2021. This means the new subscription cost for the ad-supported tier will go up to $6.99 per month, while the ad-free plan will cost $12.99 per month.
The cost changes don’t affect Live TV services, as these got a significant $10 hike last year. Also, all bundle (like Disney+, Hulu & ESPN Plus) plans remain unaffected, and these are actually now even more attractive considering that Disney raised the cost of using individual streaming services.
Hulu’s prices have remained stable since 2015, and the service didn’t follow the trend of last year's price bumps that almost all its competitors followed. Its current owner, Disney, feels that its marketing effort towards the bundle needs to be further supported by a more holistic business approach, so the recent restructuring is basically discounting the bundle by a whopping 36%. Disney would prefer that everyone gets the entire pack and finds it more profitable too.
Under Disney’s ownership, Hulu turned profitable for the first time in Q2 2021, seeing its subscriber number growing by 22% year over year, reaching 42.8 million. Even its Live TV audience grew by 9% over the same period. The main reason why users love Hulu is that it offers “fresh” shows that find success with the American audience 24 hours after these aired on TV. The service also offers a respectable collection of original films and series, so it’s got some unique content to munch on too.
If you are considering subscribing to Hulu, the bundle should be looked into seriously, as the standalone ad-free tier makes very little sense now. If both of these cost too much for you, then the ad-supported plan should be the way to go. No matter what you decide to do, if you do it before October 8, 2021, you will save $12 throughout the period of your subscription. Read all the details in the full review of Hulu.
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