DirecTV Mulling Hulu Bid
DirecTV is the latest party said to be looking at acquiring Hulu, the Internet TV venture owned by News Corp., Walt Disney Co. and Comcast’s NBCUniversal, according to published reports.
Hulu and DirecTV declined to comment.
The No. 1 satellite operator in the U.S. is looking at acquiring all or part of Hulu, Bloomberg reported, citing anonymous sources. The Wall Street Journal also reported on DirecTV’s interest in the website.
Earlier this week, reports surfaced that Time Warner Cable was interested in taking a stake in Hulu. Others that are said to be in negotiations for the company include Amazon, Yahoo, Chernin Group and Guggenheim Partners.
Hulu, the top source of TV content online in terms of viewers and advertising, would be a strategic fit for both DirecTV and Time Warner Cable, giving them entree into Internet video as a complement to their traditional TV business. For online players like Amazon or Yahoo, Hulu would amplify their online video offerings.
News Corp. and Disney want to sell their stakes in Hulu, which would give them more flexibility in how they distribute programming online. NBCU is prohibited from exercising management decisions over Hulu, under government conditions approving Comcast’s deal for NBCU.
SEE ALSO: Selling Hulu Is Just One Way Its Future Could Unfold
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