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Hulu Ends Free Streaming as Yahoo Launches Own Service With Anime

The Hulu streaming service announced on Monday that it will end its free streaming service and shift entirely to a paid subscription model. At the same time, it is moving its ad-supported free streaming to a new service by Yahoo! called Yahoo View. Yahoo! View will carry anime, Korean dramas, and movies, as well as the latest five episodes of shows from ABC, NBC, and Fox, eight days after their original air date.

Hulu offers its subscription service for US$7.99 per month with commercials, and US$11.99 per month without commercials.

Yahoo! View will have a "beyond the episode" section that focuses on a community-watching experience. Users can view pictures and GIFs from Tumblr, but can visually block content that reveals spoilers about the episode. Yahoo! is planning for the service to be available on smartphone apps soon.

Time Warner acquired a 10% stake in Hulu for a US$583 million deal last week, while Verizon is in the process of acquiring Yahoo! through a US$4.8 billion deal.

Thanks to ravegrl for the news tip

Source: Variety (Todd Spangler)