Time Warner eyes Hulu stake
May 16, 2013
Time Warner Cable is considering taking a stake in US streaming service Hulu, for which owners News Corp and Disney are accepting bids, according to a Bloomberg report. TW Cable would be a fourth owner, alongside NBC Universal, which has a non-controlling interest in the venture in accordance with a condition of its acquisition by Comcast.
TW Cable joins a list of firms that could be interested in all or part of Hulu including Amazon, Yahoo, Chernin Group and Guggenheim Partners. The MSO may be interested in turning Hulu into an authenticated portal for content available only to its subscribers.
The report also suggested that TW Cable may not be the only pay-TV company kicking the tyres at Hulu but didn’t specify which one. The last time Hulu was on the auction block, distributors including DirecTV were among the companies interested in taking over the service.