Entertainment

Hulu To Take On Cable With TV Bundle Packages

Published on: May 2, 2016 at 5:16 PM
By Nick Younker

Hulu will be taking on cable with new packages of cable channels offered via their internet streaming platform early next year. There has been some fierce competition with internet cable packages coming from many different platforms, but the cable companies that still deliver their direct services to subscribers have met their match.

News of Hulu’s new business venture hit the internet today when The Wall Street Journal reported that Hulu would be entering the market and offering up cable bundle packages as an alternative to the standard cable companies that have been accused of monopolizing and price gouging the services to their respective markets. The New York Times also reported that the streaming video provider would be offering up the cable services as well.

Comcast, who is the largest cable provider in the country, has recently expanded its media empire and bought up various media properties such as NBC Universal and DreamWorks Animation , the latter of which had just recently been announced and is in progress.

It is no surprise that Hulu would be the first one of the big three streaming video buffet providers to take on the cable provider giants of the country, given that they have classically streamed commercials with their content and they lag behind in the race for streaming dominance. It just makes sense that Hulu, whose business platform still includes commercial television, would eventually make their way into the cable bundling market.

In the past, including the present as well, Hulu has offered up the TV shows that fans love as reruns from the big cable and broadcast networks. Some of those reruns are actually offered the day after they air on their respective networks, via deals Hulu had made with them to include the programs on their streaming service.

For those who are paying exorbitant fees for their cable package bundles, this will be an opportunity for you to really decrease the bill and focus more directly on what networks you are primarily interested in, instead of paying for over 200 channels that you don’t watch.

But there is also a flipside to what Hulu is doing that customers should be aware of. They are basically looking to slim down the cable channel offering, so they are offering what has been described as a “skinny bundle.” That bundle includes channels owned by Walt Disney Company, 21 st Century Fox, and Comcast Universal. Those three companies also co-own Hulu.

So with Comcast attached to this Hulu business venture, that has to make people wonder why they would set up a new business that works against their own interest in the cable TV market, especially since they are the largest provider of cable TV services in the country?

Well, the jury may still be out on that one, but there is good chance that the cable giant has seen the outrage customers have expressed about the constantly rising prices of cable and they are likely trying to fold those customers over into a new medium while still staying with the company. It is perhaps safe to assume that most people do not realize that Comcast has an ownership stake in Hulu.

The likely price that the Hulu service will charge will be around $40 a month for the cable bundle. But that is not set in stone and has been announced as a likely theory from unnamed sources that are close to the deal.

But Hulu is not the only company that is offering cable bundling via the internet. There is also the current service Sling TV, which offers a cable bundle package via its TV app. Apple is also trying to enter the market with their Apple TV as well.

The trend for people to step away from the cable market and stream their content has been overwhelming in the past few years. A lot of consumers have “cut the cord” and opted for streaming media, such as Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and even YouTube.

[Photo by Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images]

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