Andre Yoskowitz
1 Jul 2011 19:17
Google appears to be in talks to buy on-demand streaming video site Hulu, according to sources close to the negotiations.
Hulu, which surprisingly began looking into selling itself earlier this month following an unsolicited bid from Yahoo, has also talked with Microsoft and continues to speak with Yahoo, say the sources.
The streaming site is expected to bring in $500 million in revenue this year from over 600 major brand advertisers, and those relationships appear to be very attractive to Google, alongside licensing agreements for popular shows.
Hulu has over 28 million monthly viewers thanks to its next-day access to popular series like "Glee" and "Modern Family." The site offers the last five episodes of a running series for free (with 2:30 of ads per 22 minute show), which is far superior than TV's 8 minutes of commercials per 22 minute show.
By using Hulu, users can pause/rewind/forward whenever they need to, on their computer, two more huge benefits over TV.
The company is looking for $2 billion.