• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, November 18, 2019

Hulu + Live TV will hike the monthly price of its base package by $10, to $54.99, starting on December 18.

That’s a 22% increase over its current $44.99 price.

But the now Disney-owned service suggested a possible solution for those who are mostly seasonal sports fans or news hounds mostly around elections.  

“Price changes are never easy to stomach, and we know that many people don’t watch live television year-round, so we’ve made it easy for Hulu subscribers to switch back and forth between our plans to best suit their needs,” Hulu wrote in a blog post.

“If you love college football, choose Hulu + Live TV during the season, then switch to one of Hulu’s less expensive on-demand plans when it’s over. If you enjoy most of your TV on demand but really want to watch live election news, just switch to Hulu + Live TV for a few months.”

Hulu added that it’s aware that some customers “want even more choice and control” over live viewing, “so we’re actively exploring ways to provide additional, more tailored live TV options to you in the future.”

The price increase comes on the heels of a report by analyst MoffettNathanson that Hulu + Live TV gained an impressive 400,000 net subscribers in the third quarter, pushing its estimated total to about 2.7 million -- to edge out the up-to-now leader, Sling TV, which gained about 214,00 net subs, for an estimated total of 2.69 million. Just a year ago, Hulu announced that the live TV package's subscribers had exceeded 1 million.

Hulu last raised the live TV price earlier this year, by $5, but simultaneously reduced the cost of its ad-supported option.

Hulu’s ad-supported and no-ads plans, without live TV, cost $6 and $12 per month, respectively.

Hulu’s ad-supported plan is also now available as part of the $12.99 bundle with Disney+ and ESPN+.

The live TV package cost $40 when it debuted in 2017, but Hulu has since expanded the available live channels to more than 60 sports, news and entertainment channels.

Those choices now include ESPN, Fox Sports, CNN, FX, TNT, Bravo and the major broadcast networks, plus thousands of movies and more than 85,000 TV episodes on demand, “at a price that’s far lower than similar cable and satellite plans,” Hulu said in its price-increase post.

The rising costs of carrying live sports programming, in particular, are pushing up other OTT services’ prices as well.