Showtime price trimmed to $9 in deal for Hulu subscribers

The price of Showtime is being trimmed to $9 a month for Hulu subscribers in a deal that will make it the first premium pay TV service offered through Hulu.

That's less than the $11 a month it costs to access Showtime's app on its own and would bring the price of Showtime plus Hulu Plus to $17 a month.

Showtime shows will be integrated into the Hulu platform and be available ahead of the July 12 premiere of Season 3 of "Ray Donovan."

Showtime, owned by CBS Corp., has been pushing distribution of its service separate from traditional cable and satellite TV packages in the last month, similar to rival HBO. Earlier this month, Showtime announced its app would be available on Apple TVs, Roku streaming equipment and Sony's PlayStation Vue online TV service.

Showtime is also available from traditional cable and satellite TV providers for $10 a month to existing TV subscribers.

Showtime CEO Matt Blank said that prices are set by retailers. He told The Associated Press in an interview, "Hulu is in fact subsidizing the price difference."

He also said he wasn't worried about the lower price causing existing Showtime customers on other platforms to switch. "I don't think someone is going to drop a big package of video services to save a dollar on Showtime."

Showtime has nearly 24 million existing subscribers while Hulu Plus has nearly 9 million.

Tim Connolly, Hulu's senior vice president of distribution and strategic partnerships, said the price cut was a way to "reward our existing subscribers and attract new ones."

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