Google Is Prepared to Make Hulu an Offer It Can't Refuse

Last we heard, Hulu was being pursued by Amazon, Yahoo and Dish Network. Amazon was seen as the lead contender to buy the video site. Yahoo has its own problems to deal with right now. Google had been interested early on, but had dropped out.

Turns out, that's not entirely accurate. While Google may not be in the race to buy Hulu, which may not even be for sale if you ask some of its owners, the search giant is apparently taking it to another level, asking and willing to pay for more than the current line-up of companies is.

The details are sketchy, but All Things D believes that Google is still very much interested in Hulu, according to people close to the matter.

It's unclear whether Google made a big offer, outside of the current bidding war, or has simply indicated that it is willing to spend a lot more than what the other companies are planning to.

Hulu is said to be going for $1.5 billion to $2 billion. That's for the site and a licensing deal with all of the media companies involved stretching two years. But the real struggle begins after that.

Without content, Hulu is not really worth anything. And TV networks have been very reluctant to work with any online entity, even one they own, like Hulu, so securing content further down the line is crucial and will, likely, prove expensive.

Hulu is a joint venture between NBC Universal, Disney and Fox and has content from all three broadcasters but also from other content providers.

Google wants more than what's currently on offer and is prepared to pay more to get it. While there are no clear indications on what Google is asking in return for the bigger check, most likely it's a longer licensing deal and possibly more content from the current owners.

Of course, out of anyone online, it seems that TV networks have been reluctant to work with Google the most. The company has been struggling to license professional content for YouTube, the largest video site on the web. It remains to be seen if Google's billions will be enough to make the networks change their minds.