Time Warner Inc. is in serious talks to buy a 25 percent stake in video-streaming service Hulu, and it has an agenda: to stanch the flow of people ditching pay-TV for online streaming, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing "people familiar with the discussions." The discussions are centered around Hulu's competitive advantage over rivals Netflix and Amazon: It posts episodes from the current seasons of TV shows, sometimes the day after they air on TV. Time Warner believes that the current seasons on Hulu contribute to people "cutting the cord," or dropping the pay-TV subscriptions that account for the bulk of Time Warner's profits.
Time Warner wants current seasons of its shows — it owns networks TBS and TNT, among others — off Hulu but won't make that a condition for buying a quarter of the company, The Journal says. But its long-term goal is to make online streaming tied to pay-TV subscriptions, and Hulu just might play along. Already, Hulu puts some TV shows behind a paywall for pay-TV subscribers, a plan that Time Warner has endorsed in the past. That would be bad news for cord-cutters, but probably not fatal for Hulu. Thanks to its acquisition of Seinfeld and other older shows, plus its original series, only about a quarter of its streams today are reportedly tied to current-season deals.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
7 drinks for every winter need possibleThe Week Recommends Including a variety of base spirits and a range of temperatures
-
'We have made it a crime for most refugees to want the American dream'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Was the Azerbaijan Airlines plane shot down?Today's Big Question Multiple sources claim Russian anti-aircraft missile damaged passenger jet, leading to Christmas Day crash that killed at least 38
-
Judges block $25B Kroger-Albertsons mergerSpeed Read The proposed merger between the supermarket giants was stalled when judges overseeing two separate cases blocked the deal
-
Rupert Murdoch loses 'Succession' court battleSpeed Read Murdoch wanted to give full control of his empire to son Lachlan, ensuring Fox News' right-wing editorial slant
-
Bitcoin surges above $100k in post-election rallySpeed Read Investors are betting that the incoming Trump administration will embrace crypto
-
Enron mystery: 'sick joke' or serious revival?Speed Read 23 years after its bankruptcy filing, the Texas energy firm has announced its resurrection
-
US charges Indian tycoon with bribery, fraudSpeed Read Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has been indicted by US prosecutors for his role in a $265 million scheme to secure solar energy deals
-
Boeing machinists approve contract, end strikeSpeed Read The company's largest union approved the new contract offer, ending a seven-week strike
-
US economy still strong in final preelection reportSpeed Read It grew at a solid 2.8% annual rate from July through September
-
Boeing machinists reject deal, continue strikeSpeed Read The rejection came the same day Boeing reported a $6.2 billion quarterly loss
