Pricing tide rises for some streaming services
Streaming services have become common staple in American living rooms: A March 2018 survey by CNBC found 57 percent of the public has some form of streaming service. And each service has its own perks – and its own price.
With recent price changes announced by Netflix and Hulu, it’s a good time to take a look at what they offer and at what cost.
Netflix raised the monthly price on all its plans in the U.S. Hulu, meanwhile, decreased the cost of its entry-level, ondemand offerings while increasing the cost for live TV subscriptions.
Here are the services provided by Netflix and Hulu and their cost.
Netflix
Netflix offers customers three tiers: basic, standard and premium.
❚ Basic ($8.99 per month): This package allows you to watch one screen at a time. It provides unlimited movies and TV shows on your phone, tablet, laptop or TV.
❚ Standard ($12.99 per month): This choice allows you to watch on two screens at once. It is their most popular tier. In addition to the other features available in the Basic package, it also gives you HD video.
❚ Premium ($15.99 per month): The highest tier lets you watch on four screens at once and gives you ultra HD video (4K resolution), in addition to features available in the less expensive packages.
Before rate changes announced Jan.
15, the basic package was $7.99 a month, the standard package was $10.99 a month and the premium package was
$13.99.
The most popular content available on Netflix includes “Orange Is The New Black,” “Bird Box” and “Friends.”
Hulu
Hulu has more packages because it also offers live television.
❚ Base plan ($5.99 per month starting Feb. 26): Hulu’s most popular package provides access to “full seasons of exclusive series, current episodes, classic favorites, Hulu Originals, hit movies, kids shows, and tons more” on one screen at a time with advertisements.
❚ Advertisement-free ($11.99 per month): This package provides the same video content without advertising breaks, except for ads before and after episodes of “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” “New Girl” and “How To Get Away With Murder.” The plan allows streaming on one screen at a time.
❚ Hulu + Live TV ($44.99 per month
starting Feb. 26): In addition to providing access to the content available on the lower tiers on two screens at a time, this package also gives customers access to live-streaming of more than 60 “Live and On Demand TV channels,” including (where available) ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN, Fox Sports 1, A&E, USA Network, CNN and TLC. It can also record up to 50 hours of live TV.
❚ Hulu + Live TV advertisement- free ($50.99 per month starting Feb. 26): The most expensive package includes all of the content listed in the lower tiers and does not have advertisements on the video on demand content.
Hulu announced price changes on Jan. 23 that lowered the cost of the base plan by $2 while raising the cost of the live-television options by $5 for packages with ads and $7 for packages without ads.
With the live-television options come add-ons for additional cost. They include:
❚ HBO ($14.99 per month)
❚ Cinemax ($9.99 per month)
❚ SHOWTIME ($10.99 per month)
❚ STARZ ($8.99 per month)
❚ Enhanced cloud DVR with the ability to fast-forward through commercials, record programs simultaneously up to 200 total hours and stream recordings anywhere with supported devices.
($14.99 per month) Unlimited screens on devices con- nected to your home internet plus three screens on mobile devices off your home network. ($14.99 per month)
Entertainment add-on to gain access to channels like Discovery Life, CNBC World, the DIY Network and more. ($7.99 per month)
Spanish add-on to gain access to Spanish versions of CNN, Discovery Network, the History Channel and more. ($4.99 per month)
A customer with the most expensive package and all the add-ons would pay nearly $140 per month.
The most popular content available on Hulu includes “This Is Us,” “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “Family Guy.”
The information is up to date as of Jan. 23. The prices do not include free trials or special offers.