Disney said its virtual pay TV service Hulu + Live TV finished its fiscal first quarter at 4.3 million subscribers, up from 4 million customers in the quarter ended September 30.
Overall Hulu subscribers increased by 1.5 million in the quarter, reaching 45.3 million.
A 300,000 subscriber growth quarter is a really good metric for any pay TV service. But highlighting the core business dilemma facing all the so-called vMVPDs, costs to license programming networks continue to surge. Disney said on Thursday during its fiscal Q1 report that Hulu + Live TV content licensing spending will be a key component of an overall $800 million to $1 billion increase in programming and production cost for Disney's streaming operations in fiscal Q2.
Also read: Disney Reports Jump to 196.4 Million Streaming Subscribers
In November, Disney raised prices for Hulu across the board. The premium iteration of Hulu + Live TV, which includes the Hulu SVOD service with no commercials, as well as access to Disney Plus and ESPN Plus through the Disney Bundle, is now priced at a very traditional pay TV-like $76 a month.
Disney also quietly removed a free trial option.
Hulu + Live TV bundles more than 75 networks from most of the major conglomerates.
