Any day is a good day for a deal, but Hulu is celebrating National Streaming Day, May 27, by offering a screaming streaming deal. New and eligible returning Hulu viewers can subscribe to the ad-supported version of Hulu for $1 a month for the first three months. That equates to an 85% discount off the regular price.
After the three-month promotional pricing, subscribers will pay $6.99 a month. Subscribers can cancel at any time. The promotional offer is only available through this Friday, May 27. Add-ons like Disney+, ESPN+, HBO Max, SHOWTIME, Cinemax and Starz are available for additional monthly subscription fees.
With a Hulu subscription, subscribers can watch their favorite TV shows and movies on up to two screens simultaneously. Though Hulu doesn’t specify how many programs are in their catalog, there are thousands of shows and tens of thousands of episodes, including some TV shows that are next-day or recently aired. Hulu also offers original programming. Some of Hulu’s popular TV shows and movies include:
- The Valet
- Under the Banner of Heaven
- The Dropout
- The Handmaid’s Tale
- Pam & Tommy
- Candy,
- The Kardashians
- The Girl from Plainville
- Dopesick
- Little Fires Everywhere
- Only Murders in the Building
- Family Guy
- The Thing about Pam
- Death on the Nile
- Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2
- Saturday Night Live
- The Good Doctor
Eligible returning subscribers are those who have not been Hulu subscribers in the past month. The deal cannot be combined with any free trial of an ad-supported Hulu plan or other promotional pricing, including the Disney bundle (Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN+). Any switching of plans after this offer is redeemed will negate any discount pricing.
Why the $1 deal?
In its latest earnings report, The Walt Disney Company revealed that Hulu had 45.6 million total subscribers, including 41.4 million subscribed to their on-demand streaming subscription plan and 4.1 million subscribed to their Hulu + Live TV service. This puts them pretty far down the list of “most subscribed to” streaming services, but as part of Disney, Hulu is part of a bigger goal – growing streaming subscribers to compete with Netflix, and the newly formed Warner Bros. Discovery which combines the assets of Discovery Inc. and WarnerMedia.
Promotional pricing
Promotional pricing like this screaming streaming deal is not new to streaming subscriptionservices, particularly to Hulu, who has offered special pricing for Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the past. The bottom line is getting in front of subscribers. Deals like this and partnerships like the new agreement with Xbox for three free months of the PC Game Pass will get Hulu in front of viewers who have not tried their service yet or get past subscribers to take a second look.
In last week’s Five on Friday, we learned from Hub Entertainment Research’s 2022 study that half of their study participants noted they subscribe to three or more of the “big five” SVOD services which include Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, HBO Max and Disney+. This promotional offer by Hulu gives the company another opportunity to be one of those “three or more.”
Insider Take
Also, because the promotional pricing is only being offered for a limited time, the financial risk to Hulu is minimal. The streaming service is confident enough in their content and user experience that they are willing to essentially give away three months of viewing. But by pricing it at $1, they get the subscribers’ credit card information, so they can automatically renew at the end of three months. Not everyone will renew, but Hulu is betting that enough will to make the promo worth their while.
