Hulu Goes Subscription Only, Free Streaming Service Moves to Yahoo

Hulu is ending its free streaming service which let users watch ad-supported TV episodes; however, you'll still be able to access much of that content thanks to a deal with Yahoo.

“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.”

Thankfully, the free service hasn't completely disappeared. Yahoo has just announced Yahoo View, a new TV-watching site that 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.


Featuring content from Hulu, this Fall, Yahoo View will be the best place to watch the last five episodes of ABC, NBC, FOX (8 days after original broadcast) and other network sitcoms, day-after clips, and full seasons of anime and Korean drama. Viewers can also go beyond the episode in a community-watching experience and browse photos and GIFs from the passionate Tumblr fandom. The new site features a “beyond the episode” section that can visually block the enhanced content that might reveal spoilers about the current video playing, and picture-in-picture so viewers can continue to watch while browsing to other content without leaving the screen.

“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, Vice President and Head of Media Partnerships. “This partnership with Hulu is a natural extension of that strategy, bringing the best of TV & entertainment content to our lifestyle vertical.”

View.yahoo.com is immediately available in the U.S. today. Mobile web and mobile apps will be coming soon.

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