Yahoo among bidders for Hulu, as report says employees head for exits

[techbeck]

Yahoo is among the growing number of media companies that have bid to acquire Hulu, the streaming video service owned by NBC Universal, Fox, and Disney, according to a report by All Things D.

The news site reported that the other bidders include DirecTV, Time Warner Cable, William Morris Endeavor, and Guggenheim Digital. Meanwhile, the New York Post reports that Hulu employees are begginning to depart. The Post said that Robert Wong, vice president of products, left this month to join SideCar.

Hulu is the service created by some of the top TV broadcasters in 2007 to answer the growing demand for online video. At a time when YouTube's user-generated videos ruled web video, Hulu was lauded for offering high quality TV shows over the internet. But the service has been hamstrung in recent years by the infighting among its owners and their seeming unwillingness to back the service. Just this week, Variety, the Hollywood trade publication, reported that Hulu's owners were taking control over much of Hulu's ad inventory.

In March, the much respected Jason Kilar, Hulu's longtime CEO, resigned. It's interesting to note that when Hulu first launched critics pointed out that joint ventures between competitors in the entertainment sector rarely were successful.

As for what kind of price Hulu might bring, the value is closely tied to the quality of the content licenses that Hulu's owners offer. Potential buyers will want plenty of top shows for extended periods. Hulu was put up for sale in 2011 but was eventually pulled off the market.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/24/4363204/yahoo-among-bidders-for-hulu-as-reports-say-employees-heading-for

[spudtrooper]

Hulr here we come!

[Torolol]

Hulu+Tumblr eh?

[redvamp128]

Hulr here we come!

Hulu+Tumblr eh?

Nope==

Yahulu (pronounced yaaH-hululu) You have to remember to yodel the ulu in hulu.

[Yogurtmaster]

I used to work for a media company in Los Angeles. Hulu isn't really a big deal really on technology, the big deal is the licenses with the Studios that they have.

The reason why people get angry at the USA having all of the digital media is because the studio's have their licenses cleared ONLY in the USA and maybe in Canada. The rights are not always available overseas and the rights to certain properties are only available at a certain time as well.