Anonymous sources tell Techcrunch that Hulu's upcoming live TV streaming video service will be priced around $40 per month -- with ads -- when it launches sometime in the next few months. The looming service joins a growing field of streaming video alternatives. It will include Hulu's existing $8 subscription VOD offering (which includes ads, suggesting the ad-free version could cost more), and will incorporate cloud DVR functionality out of the gate. Like most streaming services, it sounds like users will be restricted to three simultaneous streams with this default package.
While the base price will be $40, the report suggests Hulu is also considering an add-on package to the live TV service that includes an unlimited DVR and unlimited streams.
Earlier this week we noted how broadcasters added restrictions to YouTube TV's new live streaming service that prevents ad-skipping. Under these restrictions, if show is available on-demand, viewers won’t be able to skip ads, even if they recorded the episode on DVR. This report suggests that Hulu's service (Hulu is owned by Comcast NBCUniversal and other broadcasters) won't have this restriction.
The $40 price point is in line with what Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins promised at a media event earlier this year.
"We’re going to try to keep our pricing pretty simple," Hopkins said in a Q&A session with the media. "Under $40, that’s going to be the price."
Hulu's attempt to more seriously give consumers what they want is a welcome shift for a company that, for years, was quite intentionally designed by its major broadcast owners to avoid disrupting the traditional cable TV cash cow. Of course it's worth noting that conditions affixed to Comcast's 2011 acquisition of NBC -- prohibiting the cable giant from using its influence over Hulu to anti-competitive advantage -- are about to expire.
We'll have more details on the new service as soon as it's announced.