DirecTV, the second largest U.S. pay-TV provider, is weighing a
potential bid for Hulu, the latest company to show interest in the
six-year-old online video site, according to a person familiar with
the matter.
Hulu's owners, including Walt Disney Co., News Corp., and
Comcast Corp., are considering various strategic options for the
site including a sale. Other firms that have bid or expressed
interest in Hulu include Time Warner Cable Inc., Guggenheim
Partners, Yahoo Inc. and former News Corp. president Peter
Chernin's investment group. News Corp. owns Dow Jones, publisher of
The Wall Street Journal and this newswire.
People familiar with the matter have said that pay-TV operators
could be interested in the site in part to expand their so-called
TV Everywhere services, which make TV shows available over the Web
to pay-TV customers.
The talks between DirecTV and Hulu could fall through. DirecTV
was among the buyers that had kicked the tires on the online video
site the last time it put itself up for sale in 2011.
Write to Shalini Ramachandran at
Shalini.Ramachandran@wsj.com
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