Reuters reported that the deal may include Morgan Stanley as lead investor and gives Hulu an estimated value of $2 billion. The IPO could occur as late as May of 2011.
Hulu has a variety of competitors in the online space that it needs to raise capital to edge out. If reports are true, Hulu could use the extra cash to strengthen its battle against chief competitor, Netflix. Hulu is also looking to take market share from other Internet giants that provide video content such as Google, Apple and Amazon.
If an IPO is in the works, a decision will be made by November, Reuters notes, that it is contingent upon the rights to renew many of the shows it carries, the contracts of which expire in a year.
Hulu is backed by General Electric’s NBC Universal, Walt Disney Co and News Corp. The service launched in 2007 as an attempt to bring TV shows online all while providing better video quality than YouTube.
The online video market is exploding, expected to reach a value of over $16 billion by 2012, according to ABI research, thanks in large part to paid and ad-supported services.
While Hulu is now the second-largest Web video service behind Google’s YouTube in the United States it doesn’t even rank in the top 10 sites visited that provide video content. The top five are Google (largely YouTube), Facebook, Yahoo, Vevo, and Fox, according to comScore said.
As Google has announced a content deal with Time Warner for its new Google TV service and Hulu needs to work quickly to raise more capital to pay for more content. Other considerations for Hulu include Amazon.com, which is considering a subscription video service of its own and Apple’s iTunes, which doesn’t offer a TV subscription, but does allow for rentals from the iTunes store.
Related Posts
We review a lot of health wearables. This one tracks something most ignore.
We've discussed the Hume Band’s design ethos before; specifically, how its screen-free, fabric-wrapped profile respects your attention span. But for those who treat their health as a long-term asset, the form factor is secondary to the data.
Rokid’s AI glasses offer a more affordable route to wearables than Meta Ray-Ban
The AI Glasses Style is completely screenless and weighs just 38.5 grams, making it light enough to wear all day without discomfort. Instead of visual overlays, it relies on voice, audio, and a built-in 12MP Sony camera capable of shooting 4K video in clips up to 10 minutes.
Forget the watch, Apple’s AI Pin might be its next wearable move
According to the details shared so far, the wearable is still in the very early stages of development. In fact, Apple could launch it or even cancel it, depending on how engineering and market conditions evolve. That said, people familiar with the project say the company is targeting a 2027 release window, a move that would position Apple directly against other AI wearable efforts from competitors like OpenAI and others experimenting with similar form factors.