Live TV is getting more expensive on Hulu.
The streamer is implementing its second price increase in less than a year for its Hulu With Live TV product — with the base package of 60-plus live channels increasing 22%, to $54.99 per month.
It goes into effect Dec. 18.
“The new price better reflects the substantial value of Hulu + Live TV and allows us to continue offering all of the popular live news, sports and entertainment programming included in the plan,” the company wrote.
The live TV bundle is one option for Hulu subscribers: It also offers access to on-demand programming for $6 per month (with ads) or $12 per month (without ads).
Disney-owned Hulu now is also part of a bundle that includes Disney+ and ESPN+ for a $13 monthly fee.
Once seen as a lower-cost option to pricey and overstuffed traditional cable and satellite TV bundles, “virtual” pay-TV services have ultimately faced the same economics that have held in the industry for years — in which programmers demand higher carriage fees, leading to regular price increases for consumers.
When Hulu first launched its live TV offering in 2017, it cost just $40 per month.
But the price has slowly crept up as the company has added more channels to the lineup.
Hulu Live is ahead of competitors such as Sling TV and DirecTV Now and has about 2.7 million subscribers.
According to forecasts, growth in internet-delivered live TV services could “stall far faster than previously imagined” this year.
These internet-enabled bundles sell themselves as alternatives to the costly and restrictive cable bundle, and often promote tech features like unlimited DVR and the ability to download programming.
But the live bundle business has been a challenging one.
Because of the competitive landscape, companies have to price their services cheaply to attract subscribers, which means that they often make little (if any) money on the product.
As prices rise, customers are likely to drop off.
AT&T, for instance, lost 195,000 DirecTV Now subscribers during the third quarter of the year, and Sony has decided to shut down its 4-year-old Vue offering after garnering only 800,000 total subscribers.
Hulu’s last public update on live TV was in late 2018, when it said the service had topped 1 million subscribers that fall.
This is the second time this year Hulu has raised prices.
“Price changes are never easy to stomach, and we know that many people don’t watch live television year-round, so we’ve made it easy for Hulu subscribers to switch back and forth between our plans to best suit their needs,” the company’s blog post reads, noting, “we’re actively exploring ways to provide additional, more tailored live TV options to you in the future.”