Q. A friend of mine told me that Hulu was really, really cheap and they cut the price to something like $2.99 a month. Is that true? At that price, I would give it a try. — Barbie, Sarasota, Florida.
Barbie, your friend is right. Hulu is now really, really cheap.
Click Amazon: See Today’s Hottest Deals!As part of a promotion with supermodel Chrissy Teigen, Hulu is now offering its ad-included Video on Demand service for just $2.99 a month for the first six months. After the six months are over, the price reverts to the usual $5.99 a month, which is still a bargain when you consider Netflix’s base HD plan is $13 a month. (Note: Netflix’s programming does not include ads.)
Click Amazon: See Best-Selling Streaming Devices!
If you decide you don’t like Hulu during the six-month trial, you can cancel at any time so you don’t wind up paying the $5.99 a month.
The offer, which is good until September 3, is only available to new customers.
Barbie, just so you understand what you’re getting. Hulu’s base Video on Demand service (the $2.99/$5.99 one) includes on-demand (not live) TV shows and movies from numerous channels and studios. During the playback of a show or movie, Hulu will occasionally run brief commercials, just as live channels do on cable and satellite TV. Hulu also offers a no-ads version of its service, but that costs $13 a month.
Last note: Why is Hulu offering such a low price?
The streaming service has dramatically reduced its prices in the last year to try to catch up with Netflix, which has more than 60 million subscribers in the United States. The move is paying off as Hulu has roughly doubled its subscription total. The service now has approximately 30 million subscribers.
Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvpredictions.com. Please include your first name and hometown in your message.
— Phillip Swann
You say HULU is not live (all On Demand) for the $2.99. My (local) channel is offered on HULU…so the live local channels are part of the $13 sub, or is there yet another tier/cost?
That’s the live tier for $45 a month.