DirecTV has bid outright for Hulu and Time Warner Cable is looking to buy a piece of the online video service, Bloomberg reported Monday, noting that both companies met a July 5 deadline to submit binding proposals.
According to the report, TWC wants to invest in Hulu and join current owners Walt Disney Co., News Corp., and Comcast.
Separately, The Wall Street Journalreported Monday that Guggenheim Digital Media and KKR had also submitted a joint bid.
TWC’s interest in securing an equity stake in Hulu first emerged in mid-May, with The Wall Street Journal reporting then that the MSO was particularly interested in Hulu to help it obtain out-of-market distribution rights for top TV programming and set it up to deliver subscription-based services outside its traditional cable footprint.
DirecTV declined to comment. TWC was not immediately available for comment Monday afternoon.
Bloomberg reported Saturday that AT&T and the Chernin Group have also made a joint bid for Hulu, which is expected to fetch at least $1 billion. Peter Chernin, the former COO of News Corp., helped found Hulu in 2007.
During the sales process, several other companies have emerged as possible bidders for Hulu, including Yahoo, Amazon.com, Silver Lake Management, and WME.
The $7.99 per month Hulu Plus service surpassed 4 million subscribers in the first quarter of 2013.
