Hulu Looking for Ownership Transition - Again - The UpStream

For some reason, Hulu has had a lot of trouble with their ownership. Every few months it seems like one or more owners get antsy and want out. Most recently, an early investor got out, leaving our three big guys behind: News Corp. (FOX), Disney (ABC) and Comcast (NBC).

In the past, everyone wanted out. Several bids were made for the company, but the major investors were unable to come to an agreement on terms. Eventually the sale was ended, with no change taking place. The main companies at the heart of the disagreement were News Corp. and Disney; both have very different ideas of how the brand should be run, and how licensing should work. Fox has even gone so far as to wait two weeks before licensing new content to Hulu.

With that information at hand, it is not surprising at all to hear that News Corp. and Disney are in talks to buy each other out. Both companies either want out entirely or want the other one out, willing to purchase the opponent's share. Again, the issue at hand has to do entirely with how to run the business, primarily around the monetization aspect.

Of course, this is all speculation. Adding to the rumor's credibility is the fact that an early investor, and current CEO, Jason Kilar, is set to step down at the end of the month. During an executive power vacuum would be the ideal time to make a big change like this. Kilar sold his shares of the company back in October for $40 million at the same time Providence Equity Partners sold back $200 million worth of stock.

The idea that multiple stockholders would bail together, including the CEO, certainly suggests management struggles. Hopefully, if this happens, it will go for the better. So far, it would appear that the FOX stake in the company would lead to a change in the way the company works. Either way, my guess is NBC won't be hugely excited about going from a 33% equal partnership to minority stake.