Time Warner Cable is in talks about taking an equity stake in the Hulu video hub, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing unnamed sources said to be familiar with the discussions.
Bloomberg said those talks are in the "early stage," noting that a deal might not come together. In addition to providing a new revenue stream, TWC could be interested in Hulu to help it obtain out-of-market distribution rights for top TV programming, and help it deliver subscription-based services outside its traditional cable footprint. TWC lost 119,000 video subs in the first quarter. TWC declined to comment on the speculation.
TWC's purported interest in Hulu follows other recent speculation about who is looking to land Hulu, which recently surpassed 4 million paid subscribers.
Last month, former News Corp. chief Peter Chernin was reported to have a $500 million bid for Hulu, which he helped found in 2007. Bloomberg reported earlier this month that Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer was exploring a bid for Hulu as she looks to reignite Yahoo's online video strategy. Amazon.com and Guggenheim Partners reportedly have also shown interest in Hulu.
Jason Kilar, the founding CEO of Hulu, left the company at the end of March. Hulu senior VP of content Andy Forssell has stepped in as acting CEO.
