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Yahoo is shutting down its video service, home to Community and more

The closure comes a mere four years after the service's initial launch online

Clarisse Loughrey
Tuesday 05 January 2016 04:23 EST
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(Yahoo!)

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Community fans have had a hard life, and it's only about to get worse.

The show's future looks bleaker than ever; the host of its season 6, Yahoo Screen, has been shut down by the online company. The news follows the show having been picked up from NBC for this latest season just hours before the actors' contracts were set to expire. Tough break.

A Yahoo rep confirmed to Variety, "We’re constantly reviewing and iterating on our products as we strive to create the best user experience. With that in mind, video content from Yahoo as well as our partners has been transitioned from Yahoo Screen to our Digital Magazine properties so users can discover complementary content in one place.”

Yahoo Screen initially launched in 2013 as a central platform for its disparate selection of programming; bringing together original series, the Saturday Night Live archive, concert livestreams, and Katie Couric's daily news report. In total, the service boasted over 1,000 hours of content.

Unfortunately, Yahoo Screen could offer nothing in the defence against competitors in television networking and YouTube. Most of its content, thankfully, will still be available; its original series, including Community, Sin City Saints, and Paul Feig's Other Space, can still be accessed by US users under the TV section of the site. 

However, Yahoo's original content certainly appears to be winding down, which doesn't say much to Community's chances at a 7th season. CFO Ken Goldman singled out the cult sitcom, alongside Sin City Saints and Other Space, in a talk for investors, “We’re not saying we’re not going to do these at all in the future, but what we are saying is in three cases at least, it didn’t work the way we had hoped it to work." 

At least Community's fulfilled the first part of its #SixSeasonsandaMovie dream; thankfully, a film does appear to be in development, though it may have to happen without Yahoo's support. Come on guys, it would only be right. 

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