$10 increase takes effect Dec. 18

Hulu announced that it is raising the price of its Hulu+Live TV service by $10 to $54.99 a month for its base service.

The price increase will affect all plans that include live TV.

The move comes as analysts note that the growth of subscribers to virtual multichannel video programming distributors has slowed, even as cord cutting increases. 

Last month Sony said it would be closing its Sony PlayStation Vue vMVPD and other services, including AT&T TV Now have increased their prices in order to improve profitability.

“The new price better reflects the substantial value of Hulu+Live TV together as the only offering that brings together live and on-demand television in one seamless experience,” Hulu said. “The new price will allow us to continue offering all of the popular live news, sports and entertainment programming including in the plan.

Hulu has been aggressively promoting its live service as a way streaming viewers can watch live sports events.

In its blog post, Hulu noted that it is relatively easy for subscribers to switch from the live plan to the lower-cost on-demand only service after the football season ends.

“We realize many Hulu customers want even more choice and control over their live viewing experience, so we’re actively exploring ways to provide additional, more tailored live TV options to you in the future. We’ll keep you posted on those efforts as they progress,” the Hulu blog post said.

The Walt Disney Co. this year acquired control of Hulu from partners Comcast, Fox and AT&T. Disney is offering Hulu’s ad-supported on-demand service in a bundle with the recently launched Disney+ and ESPN+ streaming services for $12.99 a month. Hulu's on-demand service costs $5.99 a month.