Hulu Growing Despite Sale Rumors

Hulu's owners might need to stop thinking about whether to sell their positions in what looks to be a very successful business.  Perhaps it is because they compete with each other in the broadcast and cable space, but if the Fox, NBC, and ABC parents can put their differences aside, they have a partnership in Hulu that continues to grow and perform.  "Hulu said today during its upfront presentation in New York that it set a revenue record in the first quarter of this year with $695M, and that Hulu Plus subscriptions passed 4 million subscribers after doubling in 2012."  And while that is quite a bit smaller than Netflix and Amazon Prime, it means that there is still quite a bit more growth ahead of it. 

By following a strategy of developing original exclusive content for its site, Hulu recognizes a similar strategy being deployed by others.  Keeping the pipeline full and flowing assures that consumers continue to pay their subscription fees and use the streaming service.  And as these upfronts show, there are some original productions already in the mix and prepping for release, including The Awesomes and The Wrong Mans that sound quite good.

Whether the Hulu partners wish to compete in this space through this entity or sell off this asset, remains to be seen.  If they do sell, I can predict that their should be a number of parties eager to bid for it in order to own the Hulu business.