Hulu Live’s new price increase seems to have caught subscribers by surprise with thousands taking to social media sites to express their anger and/or say they plan to cancel their service immediately.
The streamer yesterday announced that the monthly price of its live service will rise from $54.99 to $64.99 effective December 18. The fee hike, which will be for both existing and new customers, does not impact Hulu’s two Video on Demand plans which still start at $5.99 a month.
While the increase follows similar rate bumps from rival live streamers YouTube TV and FuboTV, many Hulu Live subscribers seem astonished that their service will soon cost more. Hulu, YouTube TV and Fubo TV have all said the new prices are necessary to offset rising program acquisition costs. But Hulu’s customers are expressing their opposition with a vitriol that seems extreme even by social media standards.
“More shutdowns R coming & U respond by jacking up YOUR income while alienating ur customers because of ur selfishness!! I’ve hated Hulu for a long time & as soon as I can find a decent replacement, I will cancel my subscription & NEVER do business with u again! NEVER!!” wrote @goldstarmomtx55 on Twitter.
Way to go @hulu @hulu_support jacking your price up to ‘show your value’ during a pandemic. Ass—-price gauging. #CancelHulu,” tweeted ‘Limey O Riley.’
@hulu_support so, the app hasn’t changed at all since the first price hike and now it’s happening again. This is complete bulls—. Probably going to cancel. What a shame,” said ‘Shayne Klahr.’
“Was legit thinking about getting Hulu with Live TV until I saw it’s about to be the same price as YouTube TV even though it has less channels. F— that s—! I might just cancel Hulu and get YouTube TV,” said @musicluver935.
“…And those bitches had the audacity to cancel High Fidelity— F— HULU FRFR,” tweeted @chubbietuna, referring to Hulu’s decision earlier this year to cancel the Zoe Kravitz show after one season.
“Shoutout to @hulu for jacking rates up again. Especially during a pandemic where people are hurting for money. Smart move Hulu. Way to show your customer appreciation. #Hulu #CANCELHULU,” wrote @jakelovescbd on Twitter.
Price increases are never warmly met by customers, but the unusual anger being expressed could hurt Hulu if it does translate to widespread cancellations. Of course, with many of Hulu’s rivals also raising prices, the live service’s customers might have few attractive alternatives. Sling TV is still offering a $30 monthly base plan, but the streamer’s lineup does not include as many channels as Hulu Live. Philo has a $20 a month plan, but likewise is missing certain channels. (Philo does not carry sports channels.)
There’s always cable and satellite, but many live streaming subscribers bailed on those because of their high costs.
Hulu did this when people are forced to stay at home due to Covid and some people have lost their jobs. #ShameOnYou #corporategreed #boycottHulu #CANCELHULU https://t.co/pnuoFT6q80
— Janet McPherson (@JanetMcPherso14) November 17, 2020
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We started out at the start of the summer with Hulu. Hulu live. I quickly realize that it was not for us. Shifted to YouTube TV. Everything was great. Seem to be the best. And the price increase it. 15% if I remember at once maybe maybe 30% can’t remember for sure. Switched again and tried them all. Except for Philo. No sports I could see. We are back and settled in with YouTube TV and very happy. The DVR service is great. Unlimited. This was where I ran into problems with a lot of the providers. DVR service was insufficient or they charge more for it. Am I opinion the best streamer out there is no longer available. PlayStation Vue. Had that in 2017 2018 and loved it. Not sure why they folded but I wish it was back.
We enjoyed Hulu Live because of the regional sports networks (RSN)…especially Fox Sports South (Atlanta Braves). In fact, we strpped our Dish Satellite service to the minimum so as to justify the Hulu cost. Unfortunately, we are still under an ironclad Dish contract for 11 more months.
Then, Hulu canceled their RSN coverage and have now raised their rates. Hulu is no longer in our future plans once we get rid of Dish. Directv is out as our monthly “basic” satelitte rate with them jumped from $95 to $170 when the contract expired.
What’s left that includes the RSN’s and doesn’t require a second mortgage!?!
Nothing. RSN’s will only be available on $80+ providers, like AT&T TV Now or your local Cable or Satellite provider. I don’t see the streamers bringing them back unless the RSN’s agree to be on some sort of optional add-on package, which would probably put the total cost at or above $80/month.
My-Net TV at $24/month. Sports and 188 total channels. Give them my email address and say I sent you to get a discount for both of us.
Why couldn’t people see this coming, after price hikes to the other live TV stream competitors (i.e. YouTube TV, FuBo, AT&T TV) that have around the same content and density of cable network channels? This was the exact same noise of uproar by customers when those stream services jacked the price up. The blame goes to the network TV providers that make it very costly to carry their channels. Every company stays in business to make a lot of money. Of course this was going to lead to a similar situation as cable TV type costs, eventually. It is still cheaper though. Just less so now.
Some of those people on Twitter are acting like Pay-TV is a right instead of a privilege/luxury option. People want local channels and sports channels without the high price, which is quite frankly impossible. Philo provides a decent entertainment lineup for only $20.
Of course we could see a price hike coming. LOL!!!!! The problem is that 1 year ago there was a $10 price hike and now here is another $10 price hike. That’s a very large percentage of increase in just a little over a year. I’m going to Sling.
What you always get with a cheaper product, is an inferior one. And that is certainly fine, if that’s all one can fit into their budget. And I am sure Sling customers have been or will be a victim of price hikes.
I’m sure that Sling will raise price as well, but I’m now paying almost double what I did just a little over a year ago for Hulu. That is just wayyyy too much of an increase. I don’t believe they thought this through. It would have been much smarter to only raise prices 5% or so. If they had done that, they would have kept their customers. There are a lot of streaming services to choose from now and people will certainly switch. Also, Hulu isn’t really all that great.
I am with YouTube TV, so I can’t speak for Live Hulu TV. But YouTube TV has a great DVR cloud to record anything with no limit and it keeps it all for 9 months. Record by sports leagues, daily news programs, movies, shows etc etc. you can’t beat that. Yes, it’s $65 a month, but the convenience of the DVR capability is the big win over all the other live TV stream services, IMO.
Left YouTube TV when they raised their rate to $65 and switched to Hulu TV, Now that Hulu is raising their price to $65 I’m switching back to YouTube – maybe. Locast.org is free and has many channels, especially those with the old shows I love, I may decide not to go with any of the pay subscribers and stick with those that are free (Locast, Pluto, VUIT, Peacock, etc).
Les… yes, obviously there are many cheaper stream alternatives, but if you’re a sports fan, those ones you just mentioned can’t possibly cover all that you need.
If I wasn’t a sports fan, I wouldn’t even bother with a ‘live’ tv stream service. I don’t see the point. There are so many other stream options and alternatives for just watching shows and movies. I mean, how many options do you need for that?
I canceled it as soon as I got the email. It was barely worth keeping with the last price hike, because they still have repetitive commercials, the inability to back up without re-repeating said commercials, and the same old buffering problems that make watching sports annoying and ridiculous. But I only really want morning weather and news so no way, not worth the price for the crappy quality.
The mean part about this is the fact that kids whose parents can’t afford to bring them to Disney…were just cut out of the chance to SEE disney, too. Kind of evil this close to winter holidays. I’m never , ever returning to hulu live even if they paid ME because of that shitty move on kids.
How wrong you are. They are raising the $5.99 to $6.99 because they think it is a good value. To get real, CONcast bought Hulu. Now the prices will rise every year. That is what CONcast does, and why I dumped them for Hulu. I am going to miss The Handmaid’s Tale, but I can’t give CONcast my money. I will watch something else. It they buy everything, I will watch NOTHING! Guhbye Hulu!
I immediately cancelled Hulu!