GameSpot may receive revenue from affiliate and advertising partnerships for sharing this content and from purchases through links.

Hulu Ending Free Streaming, Switching to Subscription-Only Model

No more.

6 Comments

Video streaming site Hulu announced today that it's doing away with its ad-supported service where users could watch TV shows for free if they watched ads during programming. Going forward, Hulu will require a paid Hulu Plus subscription.

As reported by Variety, the move comes as Hulu inked a new distribution deal with Yahoo. As part of this, Yahoo will launch Yahoo View, an ad-supported TV streaming site that lets viewers watch the five most recent episodes of ABC, NBC, and Fox shows eight days after their original air dates. There will be programming from other networks, as well as clips, and full seasons of anime and "Korean drama," too.

No Caption Provided

According to Variety, the subscription-only path puts Hulu in a better position to go up against Netflix and Amazon Prime. Hulu Plus packages are offered for $8/month (limited commercials) and $12/month (no commercials).

The change-up comes just a week after Time Warner announced it would pay $583 million to purchase a 10 percent share of Hulu. As part of this, TNT, TBS, CNN, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, TruTV, Boomerang, and Turner Classic Movies programming will be available on Hulu. However, the deal does not cover Time Warner's HBO.

A desktop version of Yahoo View is available now, while mobile versions are coming later.

Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com

Join the conversation
There are 6 comments about this story