Hulu is owned by News Corp, Comcast and Walt Disney, the owners of respectively the Fox, NBC and ABC networks in the US, as well as Providence Equity Partners. The networks are looking to balance revenues from their own initial broadcasts and later online showings. The often diverging interests of the media owners and Hulu management is a reason the owners decided to explore a sale, people familiar with the matter have said. The networks recently negotiated the right to delay when their newest shows are available on the service. Under a new contract, the owners can make content available on Hulu's free site eight days after it airs on TV, instead of the day after, in certain circumstances. To view content earlier, users must subscribe to certain pay-TV services with which the company has struck deals or watch through Hulu Plus, the premium subscription service.
The paper's sources said the sale process could last many more months and may not result in a sale. Yahoo is seen as a keen bidder in order to boost its ailing video business. Yahoo's Americas chief, Ross Levinsohn, and two of his deputies, James Heckman and Mickie Rosen, previously worked together at News Corp. The executives helped create Hulu, and Rosen in particular worked on Hulu's original business plan.
