Hulu has one more suitor in its upcoming selloff… but this one is already playing hard-to-get.
On an earnings call yesterday, DirecTV CEO Mike White admitted that the satellite TV company was joining Apple, Google and many other potential buyers in looking through Hulu’s financial details to see whether a sale would make sense, but almost immediately started to backtrack talking about the fact that DirecTV already has its own video distribution service and that Hulu “isn’t necessary” to fulfill DirecTV’s vision of how to better serve customers.
(MORE: Google and Microsoft Reportedly Both Kicking Hulu’s Tires)
Whether this is simply an awkward version of playing things cool or some genuine attempt to put DirecTV’s interest in some kind of perspective is uncertain, but I can’t help but wonder what would happen if what is essentially a TV distribution company were to buy what is essentially a TV distribution company. Would rivals like Comcast, Time Warner Cable, et al, complain to anti-trust bodies? Would they have a case?
[via GigaOM]
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Graeme McMillan is a reporter at TIME. Find him on Twitter at @Graemem or on Facebook at Facebook/Graeme.McMillan. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.