Hulu to get rid of free, ad-supported service

Hulu has gone full-premium by announcing the elimination of its free, ad-supported service.

The company also announced an expanded distribution deal with Yahoo, which includes the launch of Yahoo View. Yahoo View will give users the five most recent episodes of shows from NBC, ABC and Fox for free (with ads), eight days after they air on live TV.

Hulu is owned by Disney, Fox, Comcast and Time Warner.

"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," said Hulu senior VP and head of experience Ben Smith. "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."

The service costs $7.99 per month with minimal ads, or $11.99 without them.

Source:
Variety

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 8 Aug 2016 21:06

ronhondo

This is the end of HuLu !

9.8.2016 12:52 #1

DarthMopar

Originally posted by ronhondo: This is the end of HuLu ! Hulu? Never heard of her. :D

9.8.2016 16:20 #2

DarthMopar

...but on a serious note, I don't see how this is going to garner more profits. You don't get happy customers by charging them for what you used to offer for free.

9.8.2016 16:22 #3

skeil909

Rarely used Hulu when it was free. Won't be using it at all now. Good luck to them, they're going to need it!

***

$7.99 a month with minimal ads? Will people actually pay for that? I won't even watch free TV because of worthless commercials. These companies should be paying us to watch their garbage.

9.8.2016 17:30 #4

Bozobub

Bye! I already pay for Netflix and Prime, that's quite enough, thenkyew. I will NOT be paying for:
- CNN Go.
- HBO Go.
- {Fill in the blank} Go.
- Hulu.

Or, in fact, any other paid VOD service. I don't even have cable (digital or otherwise) TV, just internet.

9.8.2016 22:35 #5

hearme0

NBC, ABC and Fox???

What about CBS? I know they are staying independent compared to the others but...

...include ALL the main network channels or NO DEAL!

I used Hulu once or twice back several years ago but it's been Netflix and Prime all the way. Perhaps if Hulu gave access to the past 5 episodes the NEXT DAY....this might be acceptable......MIGHT.

Hulu has been evil since its inception and driven by one thing ONLY..........money. They should be focused on the customer base first and THEN comes the money. Their model is reversed IMO.

10.8.2016 10:04 #6

ivymike

Bye bye, Hulu......

11.8.2016 16:49 #7

KillerBug

Ad-supported TV that you have to pay for sounds insane, but remember...people still pay for basic cable...they even rent the box that is required to get HD channels on TVs with HD tuners.

I am not saying what Hulu does is right; only that it is pretty standard all things considered. I'll wait for content to be on Netflix or Prime and I'm sure there are plenty of people who were watching ads and will now just use torrents.

11.8.2016 21:30 #8

megadunderhead

honestly goodbye hulu you won't be missed when popcorn on the xbox one does it for free so does crackle

12.8.2016 10:25 #9

Jemborg

It's all moot to me. In Oz we have the crappiest internet speeds due to our old white guy myopic conservative gov.

Its a lot easier being righteous than right.

DSE VZ300-
Zilog Z80 CPU, 32KB RAM (16K+16K cartridge), video processor 6847, 2KB video RAM, 16 colours (text mode), 5.25" FDD

12.8.2016 18:48 #10

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