hulu

The unlikely group putting the kibosh on cable TV: Parents

In the cold Alaskan winter, alone with her infant son while her husband was stationed in the Air Force nearby, Ashley Bauza needed something to entertain both herself and her child, something she could get on a tight budget.

She moved north in 2010 and quickly learned after giving birth to Lukas the next year that the rural state not only crimps her kid's playtime options with minus-40 degree temperatures it also amps up the cost of cable and Internet.

"We are on a fixed budget, we do really need to figure out what we forgo," said … Read more

'Blue' expands to Hulu too, spreading beyond YouTube

Fox Broadcasting is broadening how online viewers can watch its scripted-drama franchise WIGS, expanding the most popular series "Blue" and others to Hulu, beyond just YouTube.

"Blue" has blown past 20 million views on Google's video site, but expanding the program to a lesser-watched platform suggests YouTube's recent push for premium-style content can be complicated.

Ad-supported Hulu and subscription service Hulu Plus now have the first two seasons of "Blue" available. The show, which stars Julia Stiles as a mom who is also an upscale escort, is in a longer, TV-like format … Read more

AT&T in talks to acquire Hulu with Chernin Group -- report

AT&T is considering working with the Chernin Group to make a joint bid for Hulu, according to a new report.

The telecommunications company and Chernin Group, which is led by former News Corp. President Peter Chernin, have not yet placed a bid, according to All Things Digital, citing sources who claim to have knowledge of their plans. Still, it's possible that if AT&T and Chernin Group come together, they could make a stronger bid than the reported sub-$500 million offer Chernin already put up for Hulu.

Several companies are reportedly trying to get their … Read more

Hulu, Amazon nibbling at more of Netflix's streaming-TV pie

People who stream are streaming television, they're streaming more of it, and they're probably streaming it from Netflix.

TV streaming -- which accounts for 80 percent of subscription video-on-demand, or SVOD -- was up 34 percent in the first three months of the year compared to a year earlier, according to a report from tracking-firm NPD.

Netflix commands 89 percent of that. Smaller rival Hulu Plus increased its share three points to 10 percent of TV streams. Amazon Prime doubled its share -- to 2 percent.

The figures coincided with Netflix's biggest and most successful foray yet … Read more

Hulu International chief Larcher steps down -- report

Hulu may have lost another executive.

The company's senior vice president of international operations, Johannes Larcher, has stepped down, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing an e-mailed statement from Hulu.

Larcher reportedly stepped down earlier this month.

If Larcher has in fact left Hulu, both parties have some cleaning up to do. Hulu's own Web site says that Larcher is still with the company. Larcher's LinkedIn page says the same. There has also been no word from Larcher on Twitter that he has left Hulu. Still, that doesn't mean that he hasn't stepped down.

If Larcher … Read more

Galaxy S4 Mini could arrive soon

CNET Update is watching the skies:

In this episode of Update:

- Mark your calendars for June 20, when Samsung may show a mini version of the Galaxy S4.

- Kill the Buzz once and for all with help from Google.

- Prepare for a new YouTube app on Windows Phone 8.

- Discover more storage with the Verizon Cloud app.

- Bite your nails over who will win the battle for Hulu.

- Be ready for hurricane season with the NOAA Hi-Def Radar app.

CNET Update delivers the tech news you need in under three minutes. Watch Bridget Carey … Read more

Yahoo going after Hulu's subscription revenue

Yahoo just spent $1.1 billion of its cash horde to acquire Tumblr, a blogging site with 300 million mostly young-ish visitors and 24 billion minutes of usage per month. Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer's team can slap a lot of tasteful, personalized native ads into the Tumblr content streams to monetize the fast growing site. It's the same way that Facebook and Twitter hope to get into the tens of billions in revenue league, but it's a long and winding road.

Now Yahoo is taking a run at Hulu, with its 4 million subscribers paying $7.99 … Read more

Yahoo said to press play on Hulu bid

Yahoo has reportedly made a bid to buy online video service Hulu.

The veteran media company, just days after announcing a $1.1 billion takeover of Tumblr, submitted an offer Friday morning to snatch up the popular Web and mobile streaming app for TV and movie content, according to AllThingsD.

Yahoo joins others such as Directv, Time Warner Cable, and The Chernin Group in making a play for Hulu, which is jointly owned by Walt Disney, News Corp., and Comcast. Guggenheim Digital, headed by former interim Yahoo CEO Ross Levinsohn, is also in the mix.

The Internet titan's interest … Read more

Hulu buyout heats up with four reported bidders

Companies looking to get a piece of the Hulu pie had until this week to put in their first round of bids for the video streaming service. And, it appears that four companies have gone in for a slice.

Former News Corp president Peter Chernin, private equity fund Guggenheim Digital Media (which is headed the former interim Yahoo CEO by Ross Levinsohn), satellite operator DirecTV, and cable operator Time Warner Cable have all put in bids, according to Reuters.

Hulu has supposedly been looking for a buyer over the past couple of years, and recently several companies have allegedly expressed … Read more