Posted: 21st May, 2009 By: MarkJ
The USA based
Hulu, a free online broadband video (IPTV) service that offers web access to hit TV shows and is backed by News Corp, NBC Universal and Disney, could be set for a September 2009 launch in the UK. It's understood that the service is also in talks with the BBC, ITV and Channel4 to secure access to related content.
A source close to the negotiations told the
Telegraph: “
Hulu is proposing to launch this September with 3,000 hours of American content, as well as material from the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. It will be playing catch-up in the short-term until it has enough British TV content and will need a unique selling point in the short term.”
However negotiations are said to have stalled over the issue of advertising. Hulu is seeking to retain control over Channel4 and ITV's advertising sales around all of the content on its platform, which is unlikely to encourage the involvement of either distributor.