Hulu bid blow is DirecTV hit on OTT ambitions

[Bapun]

Joseph O'Halloran ©RapidTVNews | 04-09-2011 US financial sources are reporting that DirecTV has been eliminated from the $2 billion bid to be the new owner of the Hulu over the top (OTT) video service. The news that DirecTV was out of the running, with some suggestions attributing the rumoured rejection to bidding too low, would represent a big blow to the US satellite TV provider who had eyed Hulu as the perfect complement to its satellite based services, opening up a formidable breadth of options spanning DTH, OTT and multi-screen options. Only days ago DirecTV announced the launch of a social TV app for the iPhone that synchronises with TV viewing and which is designed to add another dimension to the standard viewing experience. At the same time, Hulu announced that it would expand outside of the US, revealing plans to initiate a subscription OTT service in Japan. Even though none of Hulu’s suitors has been revealed officially, the removal of DirecTV from the bidding is thought to leave just Dish Network, Yahoo and Amazon.com as the last men standing to
buy the company which is co-owned by a consortium comprising Walt Disney, News Corp, Providence Equity Partners and Comcast- NBCUniversal. A number of stumbling blocks are said to have to date pegged back the deal including issues regarding.