Report: Hulu Is Up For Sale and Ex-Yahoo Exec Ross Levinsohn Might Be Buying

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Hulu is looking for a buyer and one of the companies that might be bidding is Guggenheim Digital Media, run by former Yahoo executive Ross Levinsohn, reports Ronald Grover at Reuters.

That's ironic because, rumor has it, back in 2011, when Levinsohn was an exec at Yahoo, Yahoo tried to buy Hulu for about $2 billion.

Hulu, the TV Internet streaming service jointly controlled by Disney's ABC and News Corp's Fox network, says it has more than 3 million subscribers paying $7.99 a month for its premium service. It generated about $700 million in revenue last year, it says.  But it also had about $330 million in debt and lost about $30 million per quarter last year, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Last month Hulu CEO Jason Kilaran left the company and Andy Forssell took over. His departure wasn't a surprise. After many rumors about it, Kilar announced in January that he would leave at the end of the first quarter.

SEE ALSO:  Everything We Know About Microsoft's Next Version Of Windows, 'Windows Blue'

via businessinsider.com

Hulu is looking for a buyer and one of the companies that might be bidding is Guggenheim Digital Media, run by former Yahoo executive Ross Levinsohn, reports Ronald Grover at Reuters.

That's ironic because, rumor has it, back in 2011, when Levinsohn was an exec at Yahoo, Yahoo tried to buy Hulu for about $2 billion.

Posted via email from Create | Inspire - DM2 Studios

Hulu announces 2012 results: $695M revenue, 3 million Hulu Plus subscribers

via engadget.com

It looks like Hulu has rounded out 2012 with some very solid figures. The company's CEO, Jason Kilar, has announced revenue of $695 million -- a 65-percent jump over 2011. Kilar also shared subscriber numbers, adding that 3 million users fork over fees for the Hulu Plus service, which is double last year's paying viewers total. Throughout the year, Hulu boosted content offerings by 40 percent, with 430 current content partners, 2,300 TV series with some 60,000 episodes, and a total of 50,000 hours of video -- since Hulu launched in 2007, it has generated more than $1 billion in revenue for content partners. Kilar ended on another high note, stating that the site's Japanese version has quadrupled content offerings this year, and is now accessible from 50+ million devices in Japan. You'll find full details at the source link below.

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Hulu launches ad-free kids section on the web and on the PS3

via gigaom.com

Parents, Netflix isn’t the only game in town anymore for kids content: Hulu launched a dedicated kids section on its website as well as on the PS3 Thursday morning, underscoring yet again how important kids content is to online video. The new section is advertising-free, but all of the videos are only available to Hulu Plus subscribers.

Hulu Kids comes with shows from PBS, Nickelodeon and Lionsgate, and the content is sorted by age groups. The total number of shows listed on the section currently stands at 43. A spokesperson confirmed that Hulu is working on bringing Hulu Kids as a separate content section within the Hulu Plus app to additional devices.

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You Can Try Hulu Plus Free For 2 Months

via businessinsider.com

Hulu is offering a two-week free trial of its Hulu Plus service.

(Thanks to Lifehacker for picking up the deal.)

The Plus service lets you watch an unlimited amount of popular movies and TV shows from Hulu's huge library. HD streaming is available as well.

You can watch Hulu Plus online, iOS, Android, Xbox 360, PS3, Smart TVs, Blu-ray Players, and set-top boxes

What are you waiting for?

Go here to sign up, you will need an email address and a credit card. Don't forget to cancel if you don't actually want the subscription.

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How to Download Hulu Videos to Your PC for Offline Viewing

via howtogeek.com

If you have ever tried to download videos from the Hulu website, you will have probably noticed that most methods don’t work because of the protocol that Hulu uses. Here’s how to download any video you want from the Hulu website.

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These Seven Tablets Just Became Hulu-Capable

via gizmodo.com

Up until now, unless you owned an HTC Flyer or a Vizio 8-inch tablet (and who doesn't, right?) the only place your android-based Hulu viewing was happening was on your phone. Today, however, the streaming service has announced support for seven new tablets.

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Watch The Trailer For Hulu's Original Show 'Battleground'

via businessinsider.com

Creating original, scripted shows is the new fad for web-streaming services: Netflix is doing it, Yahoo's doing it, and now Hulu's doing it.

Hulu just unveiled the trailer for an original series about a senatorial candidate's campaign staff. It's called "Battleground," and the trailer is cliched, poorly written and melodramatic. In other words, it looks terrible.

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Citi Survey: 27 Percent Watch Netflix Online Versus 15 Percent For Hulu

via techcrunch.com

Both Netflix’s brand and shares have been battered this year after price hikes last summer and the botched attempt to spin off the DVD rental business. Netflix was roundly criticized for its miscommunication with customers, but what’s been the actual effect? Citi analysts Mark Mahaney surveyed almost 10,000 former and current Netflix customers to find out.

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Get Hulu Plus free for three months

via news.cnet.com

Ah, Hulu. For anyone looking to cut the cable-TV cord, the service is pretty indispensable. Unlike Netflix, it lets you watch many, if not most, current TV shows the day after they air.

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Amazon: Kindle Fire will come with Hulu Plus, ESPN and Newsstand

via digitaltrends.com

Just a few days before its new tablet begins shipping in the US, Amazon has announced that its Kindle Fire device will be coming preloaded with Hulu Plus and the Kindle Fire Newstand. This follows announcements earlier in the week that Netflix and Pandora will also be included. Barnes & Noble will be feeling more than a little miffed.

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Nintendo Bringing Hulu Plus To 3DS And Wii, 3DS Preps For 3D Video Recording

via hothardware.com

Nintendo may be struggling to move a serious amount of 3DS handhelds, but this just might help. Hulu Plus is coming to the 3DS and Wii. According to a new release from the company, 3DS and Wii owners will soon have the ability to access even more of their favorite TV shows and movies: the Hulu Plus service will be added to both systems by the end of the year. Nintendo is also announcing new features being added to the Nintendo 3DS system, including the ability to record 3D videos, new musical artists coming to Nintendo Video and a new animated 3D video from DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. Additionally, Nintendo 3DS owners will soon see four inventive downloadable Nintendo-published games and applications delivered to the Nintendo eShop, a one-stop shop for entertainment options.

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Hulu owners call off sale of company

via news.cnet.com

The owners--Walt Disney, News Corp., Comcast, and equity firm Providence Equity Partners--announced today that they decided to terminate the sales process.

"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 owners said in a statement. "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."

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Hulu Is No Longer For Sale

via mashable.com

Hulu and its owners have announced that they will not sell the popular video site after all.

“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,” Disney, News Corp., Providence Equity Partners and Hulu’s senior management said in a joint statement. “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.”

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Yahoo's New Video Hub Looks Like a Hulu Competitor with Original Programming

via gizmodo.com

Yahoo's got a new video hub, and it looks pretty slick. Yahoo Screen is a collection of videos from around the web, TV shows, and content from sites like Funny Or Die, The Onion, and Epic Meal Time.

The videos are organized into channels by human editors, and they're pulling from video content that had been scattered around Yahoo's sites. Screen has content from ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, FX, Discovery, and other TV networks. Not all of the shows are available as full episodes, and some link out to external sites—including Hulu—for now.

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Dish Network Is Probably Buying Hulu

via gizmodo.com

Business Insider is reporting that Dish Network has put in the highest bid for Hulu at $1.9 billion. $1.9 billion! That beat out both Amazon (single tear) and Yahoo (haha!) but is still technically competing with Google's more complicated, provision filled bid.

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Hulu hits a million paying subscribers; will invest $375M in new content this year

via venturebeat.com

Despite an impending sale from its owners who no longer want it, Hulu continues to grow in popularity and revenues.

The streaming video service has reached a million paying customers, reports Reuters.

In June, Hulu CEO Jason Kilar said he anticipated that the company would reach the milestone number of a million paid subscribers by the end of the year. Now it seems that the service will far exceed those numbers.

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DirectTV Bounced From Hulu Bidding

via businessinsider.com

And then there were three.

DirectTV is out of the race to buy Hulu, leaving just Amazon, Yahoo, and Dish Network, the Financial Times reports.

The satellite TV operator's opening bid was too low.
In August, DirectTV CEO Mark White said his company was never that interested in purchasing Hulu.

Amazon.com remains the favorite to win the bidding - reported to be between $1.5 billion and $2 billion - because of Hulu CEO Jason Kilar's ties with Jeff Bezos.

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Hulu Launches in Japan

via blog.hulu.com

Hulu is up for sale, but it’s not standing still: The Web video joint venture has opened for business in Japan, its first international expansion. The offering there is different than the U.S. in several ways: It’s subscription only, and only offers movies and older TV shows (much like Netflix does). And while CBS has yet to work with Hulu in the U.S., the network is offering its shows in the Japanese version.

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Vizio Tablet Is The First Android Tablet With Hulu Plus

via businessinsider.com

Vizio just announced that its Vizio 8 tablet will be the first Android tablet to be able to play content from Hulu Plus.
Until now, Hulu had not approved any Android tablets to stream content..
Hulu has evidently begun approving Android devices one by one, like Netflix has been doing lately.
There are currently 10 Android devices on the Hulu-approved list alongside the Vizio tablet.

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Does Google Have The Stomach To Swallow Hulu Next?

via businessinsider.com

Now that Google is buying Motorola for $12.5 billion, here's a likely side effect: It's much less likely Larry Page and co. will buy Hulu, notes Peter Kafka at All Things D.
Google certainly has enough cash to purchase the company -- and there are plenty of rumors it was interested.
But the Motorola acquisition raises significant obstacles:

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