Google, Others in Early Talks to Buy Hulu

A couple of weeks ago, Yahoo's intentions of buying Hulu were revealed. The unsolicited bid from Yahoo prompted Hulu's owners to start thinking about a sale. Now, the company is in talks with several companies, including Google and Microsoft, as well as Yahoo, of course.

The LA Times revealed that the company, which is partly owned by several TV broadcasters and has financial backing from Providence Equity Partners, is now in preliminary talks with several companies about a potential sale.

The story of Hulu is a bit convoluted. It's a joint venture backed by News Corp., Walt Disney and new NBCUniversal owner Comcast Corp, three of the four major broadcasters in the US.

As such, it has access to current season shows which it offers either for free, with ads, or via the subscription service Hulu Plus.

While having three major TV investors sounds like a great asset, the truth is that they treat Hulu more like a bastard child and the company has to constantly fight against an entrenched anti-web culture, even more so now that Comcast, the cable provider, owns NBCUniversal.

In fact, a Hulu free of these owners may be better off, though it may have a tougher time securing licensing for shows.

For any of the companies interested, other names previously rumored include Apple, Amazon and Netflix, all obvious contenders, Hulu and its content would be a great asset. The selling price is rumored to be around $2 billion.

For Google, the appeal of Hulu is great. It's been having a tough time attracting more professional content to YouTube, especially since it's so largely dependent on ad revenue.

The company has recently introduced movie rentals, for new titles, but it's far from being a household name when it comes to professional content. Having Hulu and its licensing deals would be a great boost to Google's ambitions in the online video space.