If you’re a Hulu + Live TV subscriber, your monthly bill soon will go up.
But it might save you a little money in the long run.
Hulu has unveiled a new pricing strategy that will increase the base subscription cost for its live TV package, but it’s adding bonus subscriptions that will be included with your new monthly price.
Disney+ and ESPN+ will now be included with a live TV subscription through Hulu. Previously, you had to pay extra to receive this bundle of streaming services with your live TV.
Here’s what we know about the upcoming changes and when you can expect to see adjustments to your billing.
Hulu + Live TV Will Increase Monthly Subscription Price in December 2021
Beginning December 21, 2021, Hulu + Live TV customers will see a $5 per month increase of their subscription price.
That means users who are paying $64.99 monthly for the base live TV streaming package will soon owe $69.99, and those who are paying $70.99 per month to get the ad-free version of Hulu with their live TV package will pay $75.99.
| Hulu + Live TV Subscription Package | Existing Price | New Price Beginning December 21, 2021 |
| Hulu + Live TV | $64.99 | $69.99 |
| Hulu (No ads) + Live TV | $70.99 | $75.99 |
New users can still subscribe at existing prices, but the Hulu website already has a disclaimer acknowledging the coming price hike:
New Hulu + Live TV Price Will Include Disney+ and ESPN+
So your Hulu + Live TV bill is going up: That stinks. But it’s possible that this might actually save you money.
That’s because the $5 price increase will include a subscription to both Disney+ and ESPN+, according to a report from Vaierty.
Those services, along with the Hulu on-demand service, are currently offered as a stand-alone subscription called “The Disney Bundle” for $13.99 per month.
So this new pricing will effectively include the full Disney Bundle with your live TV subscription.
If you were already paying for the Disney Bundle in addition to your Hulu + Live TV subscription, your monthly bill may actually shrink by as much as $9 per month as a result of these changes. It is reported that you’ll automatically see this change if your accounts are all under the same email address. You may want to check with Hulu to be sure that will happen for your account without any further action required in December.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Disney+, it’s an on-demand streaming service that costs $7.99 per month. Launched in 2019, it has a wide variety of content that includes legacy Disney movies, shows and original content from popular brands such as Star Wars and Marvel. You can read more about it in Team Clark’s review here.
As for ESPN+, that service is $6.99 per month as a stand-alone product and offers live sports streaming for leagues like MLB, NHL and MLS, as well as select college football, basketball and baseball events. This subscription will come in addition to the games you’ll get on the traditional ESPN channels that are included with the Hulu + Live TV subscription.
Final Thoughts
The narratives about this pricing change may vary across the internet, but it really boils down to this: Hulu is essentially making the Disney Bundle mandatory for live TV streamers going forward.
Up until now, you’ve had the option to add those products as a discounted bundle to your live TV streaming bill. Now, you’ll pay an extra $5 per month and have access to the bundle whether you want it or not.
For some users, that’s going to be an annoying price increase in an industry that seems to love raising prices.
For others, this is actually going to be a way to lower streaming costs by getting the Disney bundle at what nets out to a lower monthly fee.
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