Google, Amazon, Dish Networks, even Yahoo had been interested

Oct 14, 2011 10:21 GMT  ·  By

As some have predicted, Hulu has been taken off the market. The online video site is a joint-venture between several broadcasters and private equity investors. They wanted to get out and pass off Hulu to anyone willing to pay more than $2 billion, 1.45€ billion.

The only catch was that they were only going to continue licensing content for the next couple of years. After that, the new owners had to go to the negotiating tables and get a new deal.

As 'happy' as these broadcasters are about online video moving people away from cable TV, where they make most of their money, any new deal would have been substantially more expensive than whatever was being offered now.

That is, if there ever was going to be a new deal, the TV networks could simply have decided not to license Hulu any content, leaving the site useless.

'Surprisingly' enough, Hulu's owners were not able to find anyone willing to pony up $2 billion, for what could be a two-year business.

"Since Hulu holds a unique and compelling strategic value to each of its owners, we have terminated the sale process and look forward to working together to continue mapping out its path to even greater success," Hulu's owners announced.

"Our focus now rests solely on ensuring that our efforts as owners contribute in a meaningful way to the exciting future that lies ahead for Hulu," they added.

Hulu is owned by News Corporation (aka Fox), The Walt Disney Company (aka ABC) and Providence Equity Partners, who put up most of the money.

When Hulu was being shopped around, a number of large companies were interested. Amazon and Dish Networks were considered the serious bidders, but Yahoo was interested at some point as well.

Google also made a bid for Hulu, but it was willing to pay a lot more than the $2 billion asked, provided the licensing agreements were extended to more than two years, there were no 'paywall' requirements and so on.