Hulu Eyes Cheaper Live TV Bundles That Strip Out Entertainment Cable Networks

Hulu wants to cater to a new crowd of pay-TV “cord-shavers” with stripped-down, less-expensive live television bundles that include sports, news and on-demand content dropping linear entertainment networks to save costs.Hulu CEO Randy Freer sketched out the concept in an interview with The Information published Tuesday, saying that the skinnier bundles would be designed to appeal to a cohort of price-sensitive users and prove more profitable by cutting out carriage fees for multiple networks. Instead, Hulu subscribers would have access to on-demand programming licensed from cable networks.The idea goes to the heart of shifting TV viewing behavior: How much value do “live” entertainment channels really provide, when it’s more convenient to watch more shows on VOD? The company has been in talks with programmers about introducing skinnier bundles, a Hulu rep said.