Hulu-Yahoo Sale? Video Streaming Website Reportedly In Discussions To Sell

This post has been updated.

The Wall Street Journal reports that video streaming website Hulu may be weighing a sale offer.

According to "people familiar with the matter," WSJ writes that a potential buyer has approached Hulu, though the buyer's identity was not revealed.

"The offer has spurred Hulu's board to study its options, including soliciting other potential interest in the company, including from larger companies and private-equity firms, according to these people," writes the Journal.

Reps for Hulu declined to comment, as did spokespeople for the site's parent companies News Corp., NBCUniversal and Disney.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Yahoo is the mystery company that "approached Hulu to discuss a possible acquisition."

But TechCrunch's Michael Arrington spoke to a source claiming that the rumors of a Hulu purchase by Yahoo are untrue. According to Arrington, "Yahoo hasn’t had any meaningful conversations with Hulu about a buyout, says this source. The source added that Hulu is actively looking for a buyer and has hired Morgan Stanley to represent them."

CNBC's Julia Boorstin tweeted that the mystery shopper is "not Google."

Gigaom offers some insight about who else might be interested in Hulu, with News Corp. and Amazon being two of the most likely prospects.

"News Corp. already holds 27 percent of Hulu, which means that [Rupert] Murdoch could get Hulu cheaper than many others on this list," writes Gigaom. "Amazon has been using its own video subscription service to get people to buy more stuff with Prime Shipping, and it could do the same thing much more effectively with Hulu Plus. Also, combining Hulu’s and Amazon’s assets may just be the only way to challenge Netflix in the near term."

Hulu.com lets users access ad-supported television, movie and web content for free. A monthly subscription service called Hulu Plus is also available for use on multiple platforms.

Though its faces stiff competition from Netflix, Hulu has grown by leaps and bounds and expects revenue for 2011 to approach $500 million, compared with the site's $260 million in revenue from 2010.

Last year, Hulu was reportedly considering an IPO that would have valued the company at over $2 billion, but the idea was put on hold in December and the company focused its efforts on for-pay service instead.

This is a developing story.

Comments

[Fletch55]

01:00 PM on 06/22/2011

Until hulu allows android users to access content again its gonna sit idol and loose out. netflix has the same issue with no android released app to view your account. the first to offer android usage will be the winner as android is takinging over with the majority of cell phones and tablets. yahoo still alive? it's as bad as Bing

[Jack Durango]

11:00 AM on 06/22/2011

Hulu was silently getting it's a** kicked by Netflix, and was plagued by technical glitches on their xbox and playstation apps.

[onecorgilover]

09:07 AM on 06/22/2011

Yeah, I like hulu.....i have hulu plus but there are so many shows that they do not have agreements with the networks to show that I miss. Luckily, some networks will show full episodes on their websites. I have a Roku that I use to stream hulu+ and netflix. I try to use netflix whenever I want to watch tv seasons...because there are no commercials like hulu+. The roku cost me 80 bucks and I pay 16/month to stream from those two sites. I get uverse internet at 29.99 a month (one year special). I have a 25.00/month virgin mobile cellphone. It beats the 160.00/month that I used to pay for a landline, internet and sat tv!!

[Fletch55]

01:01 PM on 06/22/2011

Why not hook your laptop or home computer via hdmi to your tv and skip the roku costs and monthly fees? Wow $160 you were getting ripped especially since you had to watch crappy sattelite. To bad you dont have comcast.

[onecorgilover]

02:53 PM on 06/22/2011

Sorry....I wasn't clear....I paid $80.00 for a roku box....that is the only cost incurred for that unit....there is no monthly fee. Oh, I tried to get Comcast first before resorting to my current setup. Get this....my existing wires were too old (circa 1997; I've always had Dish....comcast told me that I would have to pay to upgrade the wiring!!!! You can guess what I told them. But thanks anyway, Fletch...good looking out.

[Mr MOTO]

08:42 AM on 06/22/2011

They really have not many options. They scuttled their planned IPO last December after the Supreme Court ruled that the FCC went to far in regulating broadband providers. Hule is nothing more than a launching mechanism. They do not own the syndication rights to the content. The only viable content that they have is NBC, but is on short term lease. If NBC, or even Comcast (or any other cable provider) designed or purchased their own launching mechanism, there would be no need for Hulu (read: look there for your buyer). Thus, that cable provider could monetize it charging their customers for access via their tv, an ip address, or perhaps even their phone, all via one account.

On a side note: I tried out Vudu last night for movies and was pretty impressed. I scuttled Netflix in January since after Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy and Netflix began limiting how many movies you take out at one time one. I prefer to stream anyway, and Netflix does not have the newest movies. Vudu does, although it's a pay-per-view model like Blockbuster was.

[cabrobst]

08:33 AM on 06/22/2011

Hulu is my TV. I hope they don't ruin it.

[UnknownSolider]

07:15 AM on 06/22/2011

may be a good move for Apple, Microsoft or Sony

[Faraja]

07:57 AM on 06/22/2011

Microsoft will have to step up. Yahoo is a dinosaur just like AOL :)

[UnknownSolider]

08:28 AM on 06/22/2011

Skype + Hulu with Xbox Live could be a winning combination for Microsoft if they don't try to nickel and dime their customers like they always do

[Jack Durango]

10:57 AM on 06/22/2011

and just how is Microsoft not a dinosaur too?

[annieaburgess]

05:22 AM on 06/22/2011

A merge with Amazon and Hulu...would be interesting. I have not used Amazon yet but I enjoy Hulu and Netflix and I was able to cancel my cable last year and have not missed it one bit. If Hulu were to offer an IPO I would partake of that apple.

[alvdh1]

07:34 AM on 06/22/2011

I purchased Google TV over the weekend to replace my cable tv. The sales person at best buy insisted that Hulu Plus was available on Google TV. I installed the equipment and logged onto Hulu Plus for a subscription. When I clicked the submit button, a message appeared which said that they had not reached an agreement with Goggle, but they were trying to do so. I returned the Google kit to Best Buy without incident. I will either wait until the agreement is reached or purchase a Sony 580 Blu Ray player, which does have an agreement with Hulu Plus.

[Tmboy]

08:06 AM on 06/22/2011

Get a samsung wifi included blueray player. Costs less than sony, same quality, but a wider array of apps. It streams everything out there. Netflix, hulu, vudu, and more. I also cut of my cable a few months ago. I dont miss it. You can also get a digital antenna for abour 30$ to get all your local channels.I get about 18 local channels... i still dont watch them tho.... i forgot that commercials are so darn long.

[SabreNation]

08:20 AM on 06/22/2011

Go to Google. Type in "Roku Media Player." Place order. Cancel cable TV.

Hulu Plus, Netflx, Amazon On Demand, MLB.tv, NBA, UFC, and they're always adding more.

[Fletch55]

01:04 PM on 06/22/2011

A merge with amazon would suck. Amazon sucks and the prices on the stuff from amazon is crazy exspensive. i have no idea why anyone buys from amazon only reason i can think is people to lazy to look around as it takes like 3 minutes to beat amazon prices.

[Deftguy]

03:46 PM on 06/22/2011

I think you are out of your mind. Amazon has the cheapest prices on DVD's, Bluray's, and dozens of stuff I buy. I am always buying stuff from Amazon because their prices are cheaper than almost everyone else.

What sucks is that there is no Amazon app for the PS3. I can still get it through Playon, but the quality is terrible.

[Help USA Taxpayer]

05:00 AM on 06/22/2011

Hulu is watchable but a sale would mean more advertising and delays of intended content for commercials --- youtube is becoming more difficult to watch because of all the commercials

[caril]

02:57 AM on 06/22/2011

Headline on main page SHOULD say: 'Hulu Reportedly Considers Purchase Offer'...

The current headline 'Hulu Said to be Weighing Sale Offer' makes no sense... Hulu is going to be on sale? There's a blue light special on aisle 3? WTH?

[WorldEdition]

02:27 AM on 06/22/2011

The buyer will be stamped - approved for credit - by the central bankers. If they're paying cash or shares, they will have already received prior approval from their current position. No titan is allowed and no credit is extended (especially in media acquisitions) without the prior approval of the Kremlin.

The same is true for the two-party candidates.

No radicals, no matter how savvy, slip through the cracks on the way up.

[jsgaetano]

02:00 AM on 06/22/2011

I'd love to see Netflix buy Hulu. If that happened, I might even cancel my cable.

[The Undoing]

02:10 AM on 06/22/2011

Why would you want to see them merge? You'll just get one crappy media outlet to choose from, and in my opinion, Netflix is streaming mostly B-Rated crap. I'm partial to Hulu myself and I'd rather it stay as is, even with a different buyer. But not Netflix. Netflix will most likely ruin it. Redbox currently fills my movie rental wants. BTW, I already canceled my cable TV, last January, after the umpteenumph rate increase in a short period of time.

[jsgaetano]

02:52 AM on 06/22/2011

I cancelled HBO, I only wanted to see one show on it. But with how much it costs, it's far cheaper to just wait until the season is released on DVD.

[Tmboy]

08:10 AM on 06/22/2011

Hulu will make netflix better. Reason netflix started to suck is because companies pulled there products and moved to Hulu. Hulu has up to date tv show, but the movie selection is laughable (except that they got the criterion collection, which was at one point on netfilx). Netflix has newer, better movies, and almost everything "b list", foreign and indie. If you have a wider taste in movies Netflix is the way to go

[inLA]

02:25 AM on 06/22/2011

I canceled my cable and I don't miss it.

Between Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and the thousands of video streams on the net, I can pretty much watch anything I want.

[Bruce McClure]

05:42 AM on 06/22/2011

I've also recently cut the cord to my cable TV and landline phone. It's no longer necessary. Haven't missed a show yet with online streaming. In fact, I can now fire up my computer anytime I want to view my shows. Netflix has given me the ability to watch some favorite oldies (Mission:Impossible, Hawaii Five-O, Twilight Zone) and the DVD choices are great. I have MLB.TV for baseball, too. All in all, I'm saving well over $1,000/year.

[Fletch55]

01:06 PM on 06/22/2011

Except anything thats new or current or live. But if you don't mind being behind and not having live local news then its fine.

[brux]

01:58 AM on 06/22/2011

Hulu seems stuck. The Hulu plus service seems great until you realize that much of the content is unable to be served to portable devices.

I don't really understand how they made this legal distinction, but it undercuts the whole idea.

NetFlix does not suffer from this problem.

Also, Hulu's programming is really sparce. I used to love Hulu and use it regularly, but somehow I think the content providers have made life impossible for them. Too bad.

The end result of this is that once content is online I think we will see rising prices and less hard media, like DVDs and CDs.

Already a lot of audiobooks are not even released on CDs anymore, they are downloaded and encrypted so you have no redidual value ... ie. you cannot sell your own audiobooks if you do not like them or want to pass them on.

[DingoBuzzy]

12:47 AM on 06/22/2011

Coming soon: Ported racist comments at the bottom of each Hulu page.

[MNJim]

12:19 AM on 06/22/2011

It will be interesting to see what becomes of HULU. I would love it if I could replace completely the heinous Comcast cable.

[jsgaetano]

02:01 AM on 06/22/2011

At least Comcast has a good on-demand service. That's more than their competitors offer.

[cccoyote]

02:12 AM on 06/22/2011

Must go by area. Here they feel the need to blast the EBS warning test a few times a day. Every time, it wipes out the on-demand, halting access for a period of time and erasing the memory.

[Deaninphilly]

06:25 AM on 06/22/2011

I have to agree. I have Dish and their on-demand is horrible. When I was with Brighthouse ( TimeWarner) it wasn't much better either.

Comcast hands down has how on-demand should be.

[flyinskyler]

08:30 AM on 06/22/2011

I hated Comcast too until I moved into a po-dunk town that only offers their local cable company. The price is almost triple what I was paying Comcast for cable, internet, and landline and the selection on cable is horrible not to mention they have no on-demand service. I would do anything to see them come in and blow this local cable monopoly out of the water.

[EndTheGOP]

12:13 AM on 06/22/2011

The American business model, get mildly successful, strip the human assets down, try to sell out to a bigger fish, the executives walk away with the cash, the human assets are left on the street. God Bless America...we need it.

[phazeroftruth]

12:31 AM on 06/22/2011

Its true and very short-sighted. I would rather start very small and work my way up to industry titan status ala Google or Foxconn or Lamborgini.

[inLA]

02:26 AM on 06/22/2011

And the resulting product is reduced to crapola.

Or dismantled -- like Lala.