Hulu Allegedly Wants Time Warner To Buy Up Partial Stake

Currently, Hulu is owned by 21st Century Fox, Disney and Comcast’s NBCUniversal.

Representatives for Time Warner and Hulu declined to comment.

An influx of cash and content would help Hulu hold its ground against Netflix and Amazon in the streaming video competition. Time Warner Investments on Thursday announced it is participating in a $30.5 million funding round for NextVR, a startup that broadcasts events like sporting games in virtual reality.

According to the Journal, Hulu has gotten deals in part by positioning itself as friendly to the television industry, which is anxious about so-called cord-cutting as customers shift to Netflix and other Internet options.

The current owners committed to injecting $750 million into Hulu after taking it off the sales block in 2013.

The deal being discussed values Hulu between $5 billion and $6 billion, the Journal reported. Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins has tried to work with cable companies on “TV Everywhere” strategies, and earlier this year he struck his first such deal with Cablevision.

J.P. Morgan said in a September research note that the market is underappreciating Hulu’s strategic value to its owners.

Keach Hagey contributed to this article.