Hulu is moving to an all-subscription model, eliminating the ad-supported service that has let users watch thousands of TV episodes over the last nine years.
At the same time, Hulu has expanded its distribution deal with Yahoo, which is launching Yahoo View, a new ad-supported TV-streaming site with the five most recent episodes of shows from ABC, NBC and Fox — eight days after original air date — as well as other network shows, day-after clips, and full seasons of anime and Korean drama.
The move comes one week after Time Warner announced that it is paying $583 million to take a 10% stake in Hulu, joining existing owners Disney, 21st Century Fox and Comcast.
Hulu is focusing on subscriptions as it looks to ratchet up its competition with Netflix and Amazon Prime, its two key SVOD rivals. Hulu offers two subscription plans: $7.99 per month with commercials, and $11.99 per month without any ads.
Meanwhile, Yahoo is the midst of being acquired by Verizon in a $4.8 billion deal, which is expected to close by the end of 2016 or in the first quarter of 2017. The Hulu content promises to be a draw for Yahoo, especially with Hulu ending its own free service.
“Video is an important part of Yahoo’s strategy and we’re committed to delivering the best digital video content to our users. To date, we’ve streamed amazing experiences across sports, finance, and news,” said Phil Lynch, VP and head of media partnerships for Yahoo. “This partnership with Hulu is a natural extension of that strategy, bringing the best of TV and entertainment content to our lifestyle vertical.”
Yahoo’s new site, at view.yahoo.com, is now available in the U.S. Mobile web and mobile apps will be coming soon.
