Hulu, the ad-supported streaming service run by Disney, is planning a price increase for new and existing subscribers in the near future.
The company said that beginning October 8, prices will jump from $5.99 per month to $6.99, from $64.99 per year to $69.99 for Hulu (ad-supported), and from $11.99 per month to $12.99 for Hulu with no ads. Customers who are currently subscribed to Hulu through a discount or promotional offer will not see an impact.
Hulu last changed its price in early 2019 when it raised the cost of its Hulu + Live TV service by $5 per month but lowered the cost of the ad-supported Hulu SVOD service from $7.99 per month to $5.99. In November 2020, Hulu + Live TV raised its price to $64.99 per month.
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Earlier this year, Disney raised the price of Disney+ by $1 to $7.99 per month, which bumped the cost of the Disney bundle with Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ to $13.99 per month. In August, the price of ESPN+ jumped from $5.99 per month to $6.99 but the price of the bundle stayed the same.
According to Deadline, the upcoming Hulu price increase will not impact the cost of the Disney bundle.
During the most recent quarter, Hulu grew its SVOD-only subscribers to 39.1 million but Hulu + Live TV lost another 100,000 subscribers, taking its total down to 3.7 million. Hulu’s SVOD-only ARPU rose from $11.39 to $13.15 due to higher per-subscriber advertising revenue and a lower mix of wholesale subscribers.
Disney’s direct-to-consumer revenues for the quarter rose 57% to $4.3 billion while operating loss scaled down from $0.6 billion to $0.3 billion. The decrease in operating loss was due in part to Hulu’s subscription revenue growth and higher advertising revenue.