Disney is once again raising the price of a Hulu + Live TV subscription. The company has reportedly told subscribers that its plans will cost an additional $5 per month starting Dec. 21.
Engadget reports that after the price hike Hulu + Live TV’s ad-supported plan will cost about $70 per month; the price of the ad-free plan will also increase to roughly $76 per month.
The increase appears to result from Disney removing the option to subscribe to Hulu + Live TV without bundling its Disney+ and ESPN+ streaming services as well. Now all Hulu + Live TV subscribers will have access to those other platforms—whether they wanted it or not.
This isn’t the first time Disney has increased the cost of Hulu + Live TV. A series of price hikes from early 2019 to Nov. 2020 drove the subscription fee from about $40 to $65 per month.
Hulu + Live TV now costs more than competitive services like YouTube TV ($65 per month) and Sling TV ($35-$50 per month). That’s before taking Disney+ and ESPN+ into account, however, with access to both of those services costing $15 per month when they’re purchased separately.
That means Hulu + Live TV subscribers have until Dec. 21 to decide if they want to pay an extra $5 per month in exchange for Disney+ and ESPN+ access or if they’d rather switch to a competitive platform that doesn’t require them to pay for services they don’t actually want to use.
