The multi-corporation owned streaming video service has changed it’s mind about selling…
TV on demand website Hulu, which has been not-so-quietly hunting for a buyer for several months, said late Thursday that it has decided not to sell itself.
“Since Hulu holds a unique and compelling strategic value to each of its owners, we have terminated the sale process,” Hulu’s management said in a statement posted to the company’s blog. “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.”
Hulu is co-owned by NBCUniversal, News Corporation (NWS), The Walt Disney Company and private equity firm Providence Equity Partners — a challenging ownership structured that led the company to consider other options. Hulu put itself on the block earlier this year, and had every major media and communications company kicking the tires. Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) and the Dish Network (DISH, Fortune 500) were widely reported to be among the leading suitors in a deal that Hulu’s owners hoped would fetch around $2 billion. Disney (DIS, Fortune 500) CEO Robert Iger said in July that Hulu’s owners were “committed to selling” it.
But Hulu’s owners have now scuttled that plan, pledging to continue building the site as an independent player in the fiercely competitive market for streaming TV and film content. Netflix’s recent missteps — a wildly unpopular price hike and a quickly reversed plan to spin off its DVDs-by-mail service — have widened the playing field. Unhappy Netflix (NFLX) customers are hunting for alternatives, and Hulu is among the rivals competing to scoop them up.
