Hulu's Most Affordable Plan Is Getting Even Cheaper For All Your TV Marathon Needs
Head's up, Hulu subscribers: Your monthly membership is about to get a couple bucks cheaper. On Wednesday, Jan. 23, Hulu announced that the company is slashing the cost of it's most basic streaming plan. In the same breath, the subscription-based streaming service also announced plans to raise the price of its Live TV option. So, there's some good news and bad news here for current subscribers. But, your wallet will be happy because Hulu's ad-supported basic subscription price is going down. The best part? Just because the cost is decreasing, you won't lose any of the current perks associated with the subscription.
Hulu will begin implementing the new price points starting on Tuesday, Feb. 26, according to a press release issued by the company. If you're like most people, you probably have the ad-supported basic subscription plan. The plan currently goes for $7.99 a month. Hulu plans to cut the cost of the basic plan by $2, bringing the overall monthly cost down to $5.99 a month.
Wondering what's behind the price reduction? CBS News reports that the company is trimming the price to create a more "affordable option" for people as they ditch cable packages. For now, there is no indication that subscribers will have less access to the 85,000 on-demand shows and thousands of movies affiliated with the basic subscription plan. Basically, you're still getting the same subscription plan perks you had before, just at a lesser cost now. Fine by me.
But, with a price cut comes a price increase. Hulu is raising the cost of the company's Live TV subscription from $39.99 to $44.99 a month, according to a press release from Hulu. According to The Wall Street Journal, this is the first time that Hulu has ever raised the price of its Live TV subscription. In a press release, Hulu touted the fact that the company has added "thousands of exclusive TV episodes and movies, launched nearly a dozen additional popular live TV channels" during the last year. Hulu also notes that the company has improved the technology platforms so that more users can access the streaming service. It seems that these few things could be driving the $5 price increase.
It's been a whirlwind of a month for some of the top subscription-based streaming services. Recently, Netflix announced that the company is raising prices for users across all plans. The Netflix price hike increases the cost of the two-person streaming subscription plan by 18 percent from $10.99 a month to $12.99 a month, per The Wall Street Journal. The single-person streaming subscription plan is increasing by $1, for an overall monthly cost of $8.99.
I currently still have a Netflix and Hulu subscription and I don't plan on getting rid of either any time soon. Hulu is home to one of my favorite shows: The Handmaid's Tale. Plus, I use Hulu to watch Big Little Lies on HBO. Season 2 is coming out sometime this year, so basically I'm here for the long haul. If anything, the price discount from Hulu just about balances out the cost increase that Netflix just bestowed upon me.
If you need me, I'll be holed up on my couch with a bucket of snacks, streaming my favorite shows.
