The shock news that Hulu may be up for sale is followed by even more sensational news that Google may be the buyer. A report in the Los Angeles Times says that the search engine giant are in preliminary talks to buy the Hulu catch-up service.
Google TV could do with Hulu's content
If true then Google join Yahoo! and Microsoft who are also said to be interested in Hulu, which streams the latest TV and movies to US viewers via the free Hulu and subscription based Hulu Plus services.
Google are currently revamping their Google TV service which has been beset with lack of content issues from broadcasters. It has also been turning YouTube into a more serious and longform content provider.
Buying Hulu could remove any content issues but bring back the original problem that content providers had. That Google TV removed a lot of illegal broadcast restrictions on showing premium content.
Hulu have hired Morgan Stanley and Guggenheim Partners to oversee any potential sale, and it looks like it’s doing a good job with all the heavyweights showing a keen interest.
More on his story:-
Google may be poised to bid for Hulu – Los Angeles Times
Google is the most intriguing of the prospective bidders because of its complicated and often testy relationship with Hollywood. Last years launch of Google TV which streams Web content onto television sets flopped because the major broadcast …
Google do not need to buy any TV service. Hulu if sold would probably be stripped of it’s content by the networks that used to own it. Then all Google would have is a brand and no content. Netflix and Amazon have brought up everything available, leaving Google to either join a bidding war or end up with low grade @&% to stream.
I think Google should just push the android platform and the playstore for content. I can see a time when tv sets come with android as the os. As it’s open source and free it will not cost the manufacturers anything and the developers around the world can finally make a truly great smart TV and get content all funneled from the Google ecosystem.
Are you serious? The networks will never sell to the devil that is Google. They already hate the internet and piracy and at least they can control Hulu. Google is a potential threat to there entire empire.