Hulu's auction may face some hurdles, according to a report in TheWrap. Bidders are said to be unhappy with "onerous" demands placed on the potential transaction by Hulu's owners News Corp. (NYSE: NWSA) and Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS).
"You'd have to be an idiot to accept the content licensing agreement they are proposing," a person with knowledge of the negotiations told TheWrap.
Meanwhile, DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV) is still said to be the front runner at the auction. It reportedly has a leg up on some of the other bidders because of its longstanding content licensing partnerships with the media companies that own Hulu. Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is also a part-owner of Hulu but cannot participate in major decisions about the site because of conditions placed on it when the federal government approved Comcast's acquisition of NBCUniversal.
This is the second time Hulu's owners have entertained bids on the site. Last time, they pulled back after bids came in too low. This time, the bids are reportedly even lower, leading some to guess Hulu's owners may take on a new equity partner rather than sell the company outright.
For more:
- TheWrap had this story
- Quartz had this story
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