Cable companies want to plant a flag in the online video space by buying a stake in one of the hottest new media properties available.
Time Warner Cable is weighing a bid to purchase an ownership position in Hulu, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
The New York Post picked up on that report and added that Time Warner Cable is hoping to partner with other cable providers to take over the online video service.
Spokespeople for Time Warner Cable and Hulu did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Hulu is jointly owned by the Walt Disney Company, Comcast, Providence Equity and News Corp. The owners have reportedly tapped the financial services firm Guggenheim Partners to advise them on a possible sale. Guggenheim is also reportedly considering entering the bidding.
This isn't the first time that Hulu has been up for auction. The company drew interest from the likes of Yahoo and Google in 2011 when its owners toyed with unloading Hulu. The site's price was reported to be in the neighborhood of $2 billion.
What makes a sale more palatable this time is the absence of CEO Jason Kilar, who agitated behind the scenes for Hulu's ownership to retain its control of the company and counseled patience while the service grew its subscriber base. Kilar left the company this spring.
Hulu reported revenue of $695 million in 2012, up 65 percent from the previous year. It said it had 3 million paid subscribers to its Hulu Plus premium service.
