Time Warner Acquires 10% Stake in Hulu as Cable Drives Profits
Posted in: UncategorizedTime Warner acquired a 10% stake in Hulu, casting an eye to the future of TV even as its second-quarter results proved there’s still plenty of life in the traditional cable model.
Time Warner paid $583 million for its 10% stake in the web-streaming service, according to a person familiar with the matter. That stake doesn’t equal the stakes of Hulu’s current investors 21st Century Fox, Walt Disney Co. and Comcast’s NBCUniversal. Time Warner decided against taking a larger stake in Hulu partly because of regulatory concerns, said the person, who declined to be identified discussing non-public information.
Time Warner Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bewkes is spending billions to create original must-see programming and acquire sports rights to attract TV viewers and extract higher fees from distributors like AT&T and Comcast. On Wednesday, the company reported second-quarter sales gains at both its HBO premium channel and Turner unit. At the same time, Mr. Bewkes is trying to win over the growing legions of cord-cutters who don’t pay for cable or satellite TV.
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