Hulu plans to shut down its free, ad-supported television service that became a staple when it first launched in 2007, and is switching to an all-subscription model.
But the content will live on, thanks to the creation of a new, ad-supported TV streaming site Yahoo View that’s part of an expanded distribution deal with Yahoo. The free content will include the five most recent episodes of shows from ABC, NBC and Fox, which will become available eight days after their original air dates.
That’s essentially what’s offered for free on Hulu now, and the company will phase out that content over the next few weeks. Customers who use the free service will be offered free trials of a paid subscription, which costs $7.99 per month with ads, and $11.99 per month without ads.
The change comes just as Time Warner announced a $583 million investment for 10 percent of Hulu, joining shareholders Walt Disney, 21st Century Fox, and NBCUniversal.
Hulu has evolved over the years amid a competitive streaming landscape led by Netflix. Currently at 12 million subscribers, Hulu launched a subscription service with limited advertising in 2010, an ad-free version in 2015, and plans to roll out a live-TV service in 2017 that will feature linear channels from its parent companies.
“For the past couple years, we’ve been focused on building a subscription service that provides the deepest, most personalized content experience possible to our viewers,” Hulu Senior VP and Head of Experience Ben Smith said in a statement. “As we have continued to enhance that offering with new originals, exclusive acquisitions, and movies, the free service became very limited and no longer aligned with the Hulu experience or content strategy.”
So instead, Hulu struck a deal with Yahoo to transition the free content to Yahoo View—which is launching about six months after the company shut down it’s ad-supported video service Yahoo Screen.
The move comes as Verizon finalizes a $4.8 billion acquisition of Yahoo, which is expected to close by the end of 2016 or early 2017.
RELATED: Verizon to Buy Yahoo for $4.8 Billion
View will use Hulu’s video player and run ads sold by Hulu, and the two companies will share the revenue. Content will include thousands of episodes of traditional TV, including the last five episodes of ABC, NBC and Fox, shows eight days after they air.
“This is Hulu content. We are the eyeballs and the distribution platform,” said Yahoo VP and Head of Media Partnerships Phil Lynch in a statement.
Lynch said Yahoo’s own video strategy for View is different from Screen in that the company plans to highlight clips and short-form videos that play up fandom, like recaps and Tumblr-generated GIFS that emerge around TV shows. Yahoo will also focus on providing a destination for television to an audience that accesses the site primarily via its homepage.
“We’re trying,” Lynch said, “to get the best digital content in front of our users.”
READ MORE: Hollywood Reporter, Variety
Tags: