Hulu’s live TV service is finally getting nine new ViacomCBS channels — Comedy Central, BET, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., VH1, CMT, MTV, TV Land, and Paramount Network — as part of its regular $64.99 per month cost.
If that sounds familiar, it’s because Hulu first announced that these channels would be coming to its service on January 4th, almost four months ago. But despite the long gap, the new channels are finally debuting for subscribers today. Customers who pay for Hulu’s live TV service will also get on-demand access to additional ViacomCBS library titles, including Freaks and Geeks, Moesha, and Sister, Sister, starting today.
A long wait, but Hulu customers can finally watch MTV
Other ViacomCBS channels — BETher, MTV2, NickToons, TeenNick, and MTV Classic – will also be available for Hulu’s live TV customers starting today, but only through Hulu’s $7.99 per month Entertainment package, which also includes channels like CNBC World, the Cooking Channel, and Discovery Family.
Hulu isn’t announcing any price hikes to go with the new channels at this time: the basic live TV service will still cost $64.99 per month (which the company has charged for the service since its $10 price increase last November.) That price also puts Hulu’s live TV service at exactly the same starting point as Google’s YouTube TV.
That said, there’s a strong possibility that Hulu could raise prices in the future to help cover the new ViacomCBS channels, similar to YouTube TV (which increased its price from $50 per month to $65 per month last summer after it added ViacomCBS’ lineup.)