US DTH giant DirecTV has reportedly become the latest company to be drawn to renewed bid talk surrounding online video service Hulu.
It is unclear whether the satellite broadcaster is interested in a minority stake or the entire six-year-old…
US DTH giant DirecTV has reportedly become the latest company to be drawn to renewed bid talk surrounding online video service Hulu.
It is unclear whether the satellite broadcaster is interested in a minority stake or the entire six-year-old video-on-demand (VoD) site, reported the Wall Street Journal citing a person familiar with the matter.
DirecTV declined to comment.
Hulu has also attracted the interest of US cableco Time Warner Cable, technology giant Yahoo, asset manager Guggenheim Partners, and former News Corp president Peter Chernin’s investment vehicle the Chernin Group, added the report.
DirecTV was last linked to the group back in 2011 during a sales process that was ultimately shelved, after obstacles including digital TV rights and valuation differences. The group’s owners, which include Walt Disney, News Corp and Comcast, were reported at the time to be seeking US$2bn for the group.
Back then, DirecTV’s satellite rival Dish Network was also rumoured to be interested in Hulu, along with Google and Amazon.
An acquisition of Hulu could help a satellite TV operator tackle the maturing US pay-TV market, which is seeing slowing subscriber growth as online video services become increasingly popular. However, the market for broadband over-the-top services is also seeing increasing competition from the likes of Google, Apple and Netflix.
DirecTV’s CEO told an investor conference back in August 2011 that it was looking at a bid for Hulu to accelerate its “TV everywhere” strategy, which aims to make content available over the internet to its pay-TV customers.
Guggenheim Partners and Morgan Stanley were advising Hulu and its owners on its options at the time.
