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CORD CUTTERS GET NEW OPTION WITH HULU’S LIVE TV UPGRADE

$39.99 monthly package sports 50 channels, compares well with other entrants in growing ‘skinny bundle’ battle Hulu says the combinatio­n of live linear TV and an abundant on-demand library gives the company a selling point lacked by other Net TV players.

- Mike Snider @mikesnider USA TODAY

Hulu has officially launched its long-awaited live TV service, increasing the choices for watchers who want to cut the cable cord.

Customers who want to add live content from ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and a total of more than 50 other channels to Hulu’s on-demand video library can upgrade to a $39.99 monthly package. That includes Hulu’s current $7.99 monthly on-demand service with limited commercial­s. Subscriber­s can pay more for no commercial­s, more cloud DVR capacity and more than two simultaneo­us streams.

This week, the streaming service signed a deal bringing NBC and NBCUnivers­al’s channels to the live TV lineup. Those channels include Bravo, CNBC, E!, MSNBC, NBCSN, Syfy and Telemundo. Hulu’s live service also has CNN, Fox News, Fox Business, A&E, USA, TBS, Cartoon Network/Adult Swim, Disney Channel, Food Network, History, HGTV and Travel Channel.

The arrival of Hulu’s live TV service, along with that of YouTube TV, could encourage more traditiona­l pay-TV subscriber­s to cut the cord, 7Park Data analyst Christophe­r Coby says.

“Now you bring in conve- nience, maybe some cost savings and you bring in news and sports, and you start to get to that new world that we’ve been talking about for years,” he said.

At the launch of Hulu’s beta service as of Wednesday, all four major network broadcasts will be available in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Philadelph­ia and Chicago. In other markets, subscriber­s might have some, but not all networks until deals are struck with broadcaste­rs. Hulu plans to roll out local channels in markets as quickly as possible.

All stations owned and operated by the companies invested in Hulu — The Walt Disney Company (ABC), Comcast (NBCUnivers­al) and 21st Century Fox — will be available, as will CBS affiliates. (Fox, Disney/ABC and NBC each own 30% of Hulu; Time Warner owns 10%.)

Despite missing popular channels such as AMC ( The Walking

Dead), Discovery and Nickelodeo­n, Hulu’s live TV service has 18 of the top 25 prime-time networks and represents a different offering to what’s already out there for live TV streaming, Vijay Jayant, research analyst for investment banking firm Evercore ISI, said in a note to investors Wednesday.

That could help Hulu, especially given higher-than-expected reductions in pay-TV subscriber­s during the first three months of 2017, he said.

Hulu’s monthly price compares well with other entrants in the growing “skinny bundle” battle. YouTube TV, which launched recently with ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC in the same cities Hulu is in, is priced at $35 monthly but does not have the Turner channels (CNN, TBS).

Sling TV can be lower-priced than Hulu ($20 to $40 monthly) but does not have CBS, or ABC in all markets. DirecTV Now ($35 to $70) can offer more channels but no CBS or cloud DVR, while Sony’s PlayStatio­n Vue (starts at $29.99) also does not have all broadcast affiliates nationwide.

Hulu says the combinatio­n of live linear TV and an abundant on-demand library gives the company a selling point lacked by other Net TV players such as Netflix and Sling TV. So far, about 2 million subscribe to these live Net TV services, Jayant estimates.

The service has expanded its own original programmin­g to include The Mindy Project, 11.22.63, The Path and new series The Handmaid’s Tale while providing current broadcast shows such as The Voice, Empire and Scandal (new episodes usually go live a few hours after broadcast) and a library of other TV series and movies.

The $39.99 beta service comes with 50 hours of cloud DVR recording storage and up to six individual Hulu profiles with two simultaneo­us streams.

 ??  ?? HULU At launch, Hulu’s live TV beta will be available on Apple TV, Chromecast and Xbox One, as well as Android and iOS mobile devices.
HULU At launch, Hulu’s live TV beta will be available on Apple TV, Chromecast and Xbox One, as well as Android and iOS mobile devices.

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