The media company plans on dropping the free option, reports The Hollywood Reporter, giving users paid subscriptions as their only choices to stream network TV shows.
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A “limited commercials” Hulu subscription costs $7.99 a month, and a “no commercials” plan costs $11.99 a month. According to Hulu’s Senior VP and head of experience, Ben Smith, the reason for the change is because the limited free service falls short of everything the service now provides.
There’s good news and bad news for folks that use online video service Hulu to catch up on the latest episodes of TV shows without paying a penny. Drop ’em in a comment below.
Get free real-time news alerts from the Santa Monica Patch. The free Hulu service will be phased out over the next few weeks. Not only that, but View will also include the last five episode of shows eight days after they air on networks ABC, NBC, and FOX!
Hulu has offered a free, ad-supported service since 2007.
Yahoo View will also serve as a hub focused on the fandoms that emerge around various television shows by featuring added content like clips, recaps and Tumblr-generated GIFs. The new Yahoo site is now live, but only through the web in the USA (with the promise of the corresponding mobile apps coming soon).
While among the top streaming services available, Hulu lags behind rivals including Netflix and Amazon in audience. However, there is a silver lining for cord cutters who have gotten used to a free Hulu.
Last week, Hulu announced that it would soon be live-streaming some of Time Warner’s finest cable TV selections, following that conglomerate’s acquisition of a 10 percent stake in the streaming platform.
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