Google In Talks To Buy Hulu: Report

Google is reportedly in talks to purchase Hulu, the online video site, according to the L.A. Times.

Hulu began to weigh options regarding a sale after an unsolicited offer last week, though it might not necessarily sell itself. It was earlier reported that Yahoo had approached Hulu, but that rumor has been all but discredited.

According to new sources, who claim to be "familiar with the situation," Hulu is now talking to Google, Yahoo and Microsoft. Hulu's financial advisers, Morgan Stanley and Guggenheim Partners, are setting up meetings with various companies in the tech, media and communications fields, the source also said.

Hulu lets users watch episodes from television shows currently airing, as well as older shows. The site also offers a premium service, Hulu Plus, that lets users watch a greater selection of programming with limited advertising. The site is projected to make $500 million in revenue for 2011, based on advertising and subscriptions.

Google already owns YouTube, the top online video destination in the country that boasts over 100 million unique visitors per month. YouTube has also launched a streaming rental service, which recently expanded to include over 3,000 more titles.

A number of other sites are getting into video subscription services. While Netflix is the best-known, other companies including Amazon and Apple offer competing services, too.

Buying Hulu would give Google the opportunity to get its hands into more professional content. Hulu currently maintains a number of licensing deals for highly watched programs like Fox's "Glee" and NBC's "The Office." It receives 28 million viewers per month. The L.A. Times reports that new agreements for licensing could require users to prove that they are paying for cable or satellite before receiving access to current shows.

According to Bloomberg, Hulu could end up costing over $2 billion for any potential buyer, an amount the company could have been valued at if it had followed through with an initial public offering last year.

Comments

[George Garros]

03:42 AM on 07/04/2011

Hulu. An evil plot to destroy the world. (sarcasm)
Google. An evil plot to take-over the world. (No, seriously.)

[GirlInNYC]

06:01 PM on 07/03/2011

This reminds me to cancel my subscription. I rarely use this $9/mo. Hulu Plus service.

[Ronnie Avatar Dixon]

04:02 PM on 07/03/2011

Google always has a huge monopoly on video content...this will only increase said monopoly.

[MISTERUNCONVENTIONAL]

02:24 PM on 07/03/2011

Geez I sure wish Hulu would turn down the volume on their little sound when their player starts.
I'm worried it's gonna tear the cones on my speakers.

[yudkib]

01:55 PM on 07/03/2011

yeah, the FTC is gonna have a field day with this.

[Packattack]

01:33 PM on 07/03/2011

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO dont sell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love it the way it is.......

[padoodle]

01:18 PM on 07/03/2011

When will there be a stop to these corporate takeover/merger/monopolies????
Be the first to STOP IT GOOGLE! You guys at the top think it's your only job! Maybe you don't know anything about actually making a business run so you just take over others to bolster yourself! Seems like all the guys at the top know how to do is fire people to "make money." The guys at the bottom actually make YOU money!

[Shain Eighmey]

06:55 PM on 07/03/2011

Google usually does pretty well for the "guys at the bottom".

[twain307]

12:57 PM on 07/03/2011

More and more media consolidation...Does anyone remember seeing the movie adaptation of Fahrenheit 451, with Oskar Werner and Julie Christie? The wall sized flat panel TV's have come to pass, and soon all content will be "provided" by a handful of outlets. Somebody in the mid 60's had their crystal ball really tuned in.

[roydoe]

12:48 PM on 07/03/2011

Goolu

[chemguy]

12:37 PM on 07/03/2011

What is there to buy? The only thing of value is the rights to the shows and in most cases it doesn't even seem to be exclusive or continued rights. Netflix already has shows like "The Office" and "Glee".

[vibroluxor]

12:03 PM on 07/03/2011

I think the most obvious purchaser would be Netflix...

[FabulousTahoe]

11:58 AM on 07/03/2011

I dunno if the anti-trust people would approve of a Google-Hulu merger, the combined entity would control almost all the video plays on the internet. Hulu is a costly acquisition that wouldn't increase revenues enough to make sense to Google as an investment, though it would be a perfect way to completely eliminate this particular source of competition...

[Michael T Campbell]

11:31 AM on 07/03/2011

In my opinion Google is getting way too involved in too many things. It seems to me that if they keep going at the rate they are they are go to becoming a monopoly. Seriously if you think about how much information Google can get about you now, how much more can they get it they keep expanding.I'm not terribly comfortable with one organization having that much information on the citizens of this country. And please don't anybody post if you don't have anything to hide then don't worry about it because that's really not the point.

[Lex10]

10:41 AM on 07/03/2011

Comcast- don't they own Hulu?

[ceez]

10:09 AM on 07/03/2011

Man another company being gobled up by a huge company. Where's the competition people???

[Man in the middle]

10:35 AM on 07/03/2011

uh, that's usually the goal in startups.
start a company, grow it and sell it for tons of cash.
then the gobbled up property goes stale and a new startup is formed.
wash, rinse, repeat.