As Netflix starts asking its subscribers to dig a little deeper into their pockets for their monthly subs, rival streaming outfit Hulu is cutting the cost for newcomers to its service.
The company’s cheapest streaming plan can now be grabbed for just $6 a month for the first year; after that the cost reverts to the regular $8-a-month fee. The first 30 days come free as part of a trial period, so you can even ditch the service after a month and pay nothing if it’s not to your liking.
Anyone interested will need to sign up before January 9, 2018, to take advantage of the cheaper rate, Hulu said.
Hulu’s basic package comes with ads, but if you can’t stand such interruptions, there’s an ad-free option for $12 a month — there’s currently no special offer attached to this tier.
For those with wallets begging to be raided, Hulu also has a $40-a-month “Live TV” offering, which, as its name cleverly suggests, includes live TV programming along with its growing library of movies and shows. For another $25 a month you can even add HBO and Cinemax content to your streaming deal, or simply opt for one of these, paying $15 for HBO or $10 for Cinemax.
While some commentators have been attributing Hulu’s price cut to Netflix’s recent decision to hike the cost of several of its tiers, Variety pointed out that Hulu did in fact quietly unveil its $6 offer about two weeks ago before more recently targeting former subscribers with marketing emails aimed at persuading them to give the streaming service another try. Netflix’s move to hike prices could work out nicely for Hulu, perhaps serving to push a few disgruntled customers its way.
Hulu has been investing heavily in recent times in a bid to build out its service to take on both Netflix and Amazon. Besides inking deals with a range of companies to boost its content and broaden its service, it revealed just last month that it has earmarked more than $2 billion for programming in 2017, with seven original series set to arrive in the next nine months.
Last week Netflix announced that it will be increasing the monthly price for its standard tier, which lets you use two screens at once, from $10 to $11, and the price of its premium tier, which offers four screens and high-definition streams, from $12 to $14. Its basic $8 tier remains unchanged.
Unsure about which video streaming service to try? Then be sure to check out DT’s battle-of-the-giants guide to help you decide.
