Jul 12
Turns out Hulu isn’t getting sold after all. After a bunch of talk, 21st Century Fox, NBCUniversal, and Disney are instead putting in another $750 million and staying the Hulu-course. Maybe next time DirecTV
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Jul 12
Well, we’ve been waiting to hear who would wind up purchasing the struggling Hulu, and now we know — nobody! Instead the service will see an infusion of cash totaling $750 million from its current owners. Hulu has actively courted new owners on multiple occasions, and it seemed as if this time a deal was imminent. Both Yahoo and DirecTV were in the running allegedly but, for whatever reason, Fox, NBC and Disney found their offers lacking. It’s unclear right now whether the issue was over asking price or future plans for the service, but the cabal behind Hulu will instead sink more money into the property to try and grow its subscriber base further. This is turning into something of a habit for the uneasy partnership, one that is quickly turning Hulu into the boy who cried wolf. The official press release awaits, after the break.
Jul 06
Hulu bids are in, if it sells then the next owner’s identity may hinge on video rights
Posted in: Today's Chili
Take two of the sale of Hulu is approaching its inevitable end, as multiple sources report the final bids have come in. Currently the site is owned by Disney, Fox and Comcast, while reported interested buyers include DirecTV, Chernin Group / AT&T and Guggenheim Digital Media. Of the potential buyers, The Hollywood Reporter reports Guggenheim would be the one most likely to retain the site’s “entreprenurial spirit,” while DirecTV may want to use it both as a part of its satellite package and as a standalone business. Finally the Chernin Group is reportedly backed by AT&T, which may have goals similar to those of DirecTV.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the site’s current owners are considering how potential buyers will want to license content going forward as part of the bids, with potential restrictions on their top rated shows, or longer windows before content is available on Hulu. We’ll have to wait and find out who had the best pitch before we move on to the next step — deciding if whatever Hulu becomes under new ownership is still worth visiting.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Jul 02
If you believe past rumors, Apple has sometimes had difficulty getting the media industry to agree with its vision of the future. Its solution may be to hire from the industry itself — Bloomberg claims that Apple has recruited Hulu’s Senior VP of Marketing and Distribution, Pete Distad, to negotiate future media deals. Neither company is commenting on the rumor, although the executive may not be immediately necessary: Bloomberg also believes that Apple is near an agreement that would bring Time Warner Cable subscribers and services to Apple TV boxes within “a few months.” Whether or not that deal happens, we suspect that Distad could at least help realize Tim Cook’s grand vision for TV.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Apple
Source: Bloomberg
Jun 17
TiVo is tipped to be among the potential suitors for Hulu, with the DVR company said to be a rival to DirecTV who, in reports late last week, was described as in “very advanced stages” to acquire the on-demand service. The suggestion, from market intelligence firm StreetAccount, described TiVo’s recent share price bump as on
Jun 14
DirecTV buying Hulu source claims
Posted in: Today's ChiliDirecTV will buy Hulu in a roughly billion-dollar deal, it’s reported, with the acquisition in “very advanced stages” according to insiders familiar with the deal. The streaming provider has entertained interest from Time Warner Cable, Yahoo, and others over the past months, but is likely to settle on DirecTV as the new owner, sources tell
Jun 13
DirecTV Is Supposedly Buying Hulu
Posted in: Today's Chili
If it seems like Hulu’s been up for sale for a few years now that’s because it totally has been. Seriously, back in August 2011 we tried to figure out which Hulu bidder
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Jun 06
Hulu may be constantly on the brink of a buyout, but that doesn’t mean the current owners are just sitting about waiting for some high roller to come along. In fact, over the last couple of months the streaming service has undergone a pretty impressive transformation. There have been a few new features added and some licensing deals struck. But, most noticeably, Hulu Plus has received a spiffy new look across almost all platforms. Today it’s the iPad’s turn to cash in and the new experience has a heavy focus on discovering content. Tapping on a show brings up the “discover” panel, which provides you with a quick shortcut to play the first, next or latest episode (depending on where yo left off) along with details about the program. If you want to keep looking, but don’t want to drop back out to the card-like UI of the home screen, swiping left or right will take you to the next collection or season. If you’re in the middle of watching an episode of SNL then remember you forgot to add the latest episode of Misfits to your queue, you can pinch the video to minimize it quickly add it then pop back to a full screen of Weekend Update without skipping a beat. Of course, multitasking is in-app only — so you wont be able to shrink the episode down to the corner while you search for stills from Good Burger. There are also a bunch of more minor tweaks, such as inline clip playback and curated collections. After the break you’ll find the complete changelog as well as a video walk through of the updated app.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Software, HD
Source: Hulu, Hulu Plus (App Store)
Jun 04
Netflix still the dominant streaming provider, according to latest NPD report
Posted in: Today's Chili
No, you can’t hold the Bluths responsible for this — not yet, anyway. The NPD Group’s just released its latest figures for streaming video on demand (SVOD) in Q1 2013 and, unsurprisingly, Netflix still reigns supreme. According to the data, it’s the many hours of available ad-free boob tube (read: TV) programming that’s propelling SVOD viewership, so much so that it’s increased by 34 percent year-over-year. Break that down amongst SVOD providers and you’ll find 90 percent of that viewing pie belongs to (wait for it!)… Netflix, which actually represents a 4-percent drop from the same quarter last year.
As for the general state of SVOD, the majority of eyeballs still turn to the television set for a streaming fix, with that device commanding an 80 percent share. And, yes, it’s once again Netflix that garners the most use here (nearly 90 percent), but rival streaming services Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime are making gains at 10 and 2 percent, respectively. Although there does appear to be a minor chink in Reed Hastings’ red armor. These latest numbers also show streaming subs branching out from a sole dependence on Netflix, with 10 percent adding Amazon Prime to the mix and 8 percent doubling down with Netflix and Hulu. Translation: they couldn’t find what they wanted on Netflix. We’ve all been there.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD, Amazon
Jun 04
It’s pretty obvious that Netflix uses a lot of bandwidth, and it accounts for nearly a third of all internet traffic. Furthermore, when it comes to streaming TV shows, Netflix takes up 89% of it, with Hulu and Amazon‘s Prime Instant Video trailing behind. However, the two are slowly catching up to Netflix. The statistics
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