Hulu is officially phasing out their free streaming service as they are now licensing it to Yahoo which is currently working out being acquired by Verizon.
Previously, anyone in the United States could watch the most recent episodes of their favorite TV shows from Fox, NBC and ABC on Hulu for free. The episodes are uploaded eight days after it officially airs on the networks.
Now, Hulu recently announced that they will be stopping their free streaming service soon. The announcement is no surprise to many as Hulu has been trying to market their paid subscription services for several months now.
Hulu visitors have started to decline on their free streaming service as they already started to transfer some of the best big title TV shows to their paid subscriptions, the Wall Street Journal has learned. Hulu Senior VP Ben Smith said that their free streaming service is not in line with their goal for the company to provide the best content to their customers.
What most people do not know about Hulu is that the service started out with the goal to battle digital piracy when torrent sites started to proliferate in the late 2000s. Hulu was originally launched as just an ad-supported streaming service that allowed viewers to watch their favorite TV shows for free after several days of delay.
Hulu could now be used to take on the giant streaming service Netflix, The Verge reported. For many, Netflix is the go-to streaming service for those looking for a larger library of TV shows, movies, documentaries and stand-up comedy shows.
The company did not yet announce their whole game plan regarding Hulu but the ditching of their free streaming service could mean that they are shifting their focus to the paid subscription offerings. Hulu could then expand more by adding in more TV shows and movies at their disposal in a bid to compete with Netflix.
Yahoo has not disclosed what they are planning to do with their part in Hulu. They have also declined to comment on whether the media content will make its way to Verizon's offerings in the near future.