Hulu’s multi-channel live streaming service has quietly matched YouTube TV’s promotional price of $10 a month off the first three months for new customers.
Both live streamers are now available for $54.99 a month for the first three months. The price reverts to the normal $64.99 a month after that, unless you cancel prior to the end of the three month promotional period.
YouTube TV first began experimenting with its promotional price last April at the beginning of the 2021 Major League Baseball season. The streamer had been under fire from subscribers for losing carriage of the 19 Sinclair-owned Bally Sports regional sports networks which has the local market rights to numerous MLB, NBA and NHL teams. (Hulu Live also does not carry the Bally Sports channels.)
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At that time, YouTube TV featured one promotional offer that reduced the first month of service to $44.99. On other occasions, the streamer’s site featured the $54.99 a month price for the first three months of service.
In recent weeks, YouTube TV has trimmed the two promo deals to one, the $54.99 a month for three months offer.
While both live, and Video on Demand streaming services, such as Netflix, have raised prices in the last year or so, the competition for the growing online audience remains fierce, thereby likely triggering the promotional prices from Hulu and YouTube TV.
DIRECTV Stream and FuboTV, two live streaming rivals with comparable prices to YouTube TV and Hulu, are not providing reduced promo prices at this time. Sling TV, which has a base price of $35 a month (for far fewer channels), has offered a ‘$10 off the first month’ promotion since April.
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— Phillip Swann
$44.99 looks like a good value price if they left it at that.