Its been nearly 10 years since the debut of Hulu, and over that time, there has been stiffer competition in the online streaming business from the likes of Amazon and Netflix. Hulu is now prepared to make a significant change in its business model by phasing out its free streaming offerings, opting for a paid model that will start at $7.99.
While the paid options for Hulu are nothing new, the ability to watch some of the content available on Hulu for free will be phased out over the coming weeks. This will align better with services offered by competitors Amazon and Netflix. Hulu will offer some free ad-supported content though its partnership with Yahoo, which is launching its own TV streaming service, Yahoo View.
Both currently and going forward, Hulu will offer two tiers of service - an ad-supported subscription at $7.99, and an ad-free subscription that is $11.99.