“Yahoo View is the extension of Yahoo’s long-standing distribution partnership with Hulu and will offer thousands of TV, anime, Korean drama and movies including full episodes, films, and clips for free”, a press release reads. Visitors to the site are encouraged to sign up for a subscription and not immediately directed to free content. Spending on streaming services will go up by 22% this year compared to 2015, and consumers will spend $6.62 billion on services like Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime.
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With the move to Yahoo, Hulu will soon phase out its free ad-supported service. Instead, the company has inked a deal with Yahoo to offer users ad-supported TV-streaming that will enable them watch five most recent episodes of shows from the ABC, NBC and Fox. But Hulu’s decision to launch a live-TV service next year might have something to do with the investments it has attracted. According to Variety, Hulu plans to slowly introduce the change over the coming weeks before the free tier is gone for good.
Yahoo View will initially only be available in the United States, where free Hulu content is also available on Comcast’s Xfinity. Those without a subscription will be offered a free 30-day trial.
The announcement comes after Time Warner revealed last week that it purchased a 10 percent stake in Hulu for $583 million.
Yahoo’s Tumblr is home to many dedicated fan communities which is why it’s not surprising that this new TV watching experience is being linked to Tumblr as well. The deal will be wrapped up by 2017 at the very latest, and it will be interesting to see if it will affect Hulu’s relationship with both companies.
Hulu is jointly-owned by 21st Century Fox, NBCUniversal Walt Disney, and minority shareholder Time Warner. They’re not available on Hulu’s mobile apps or streaming-TV devices, just on Hulu.com from a traditional computer.
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“Video is an important part of Yahoo’s strategy and we’re committed to delivering the best digital video content to our users”, said Phil Lynch, vice president and head of media partnerships for Yahoo, per Variety.
