Hollywood insiders among Hulu suitors Hulu has attracted initial bids from strategic buyers, private equity groups and Hollywood insiders as owner News Corp, Walt Disney and Comcast look to exit the six-year-old online video service. Hulu, which streams broadcast networks content and movies to tech-savvy US consumers, some of whom pay a monthly fee for a premium version, competes with services including Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Apple's iTunes. Bidding for Hulu got under way more than a month ago when Peter Chernin, former chief operating officer of News Corp, made a formal $500m offer. Since then, a series of new bidders has emerged. Private equity firms including Guggenheim Digital Media and Silver Lake Partners are pursuing Hulu, according to people familiar with the situation. Cable and satellite television providers have also joined the fray. Time Warner Cable and DirecTV have both made offers, these people said. Other reports have included buyout firm KKR as a bidder, as well as Yahoo, which this week bought social media site Tumblr for $1.1bn. Yet as bidding for Hulu heats up, it remains unclear exactly what the future of the company will look like. News Corp, Disney and Comcast power Hulu by streaming their content. As they look for an exit, however, they are likely to take their content with them, then look to license it back to Hulu for a fee. The details of these arrangements will impact the price for Hulu, people close to the process said. One person said Disney may also retain a stake in the company. Hulu was founded in 2007 by News Corp, Disney and Comcast, majority owner of NBCUniversal. Providence Equity Partners later paid $100m for a 10 per cent stake, but last year sold its interest back to the founders. Comcast, the cable operator, has a non-controlling stake in Hulu because the online video service is a competitor to its core business. Efforts to sell Hulu date as far back as 2011, when the owners tried to find buyers but could not field compelling bids despite preliminary interest from Amazon, Dish Network, Google and Yahoo. Hulu's founding chief executive, Jason Kilar, quit earlier this year after clashing with the founders over the future direction of the company. Yet as Netflix has begun to produce more original content, including the acclaimed remake of the House of Cards series, Hulu has relied on recent broadcast content as its main selling point. Reporting by David Gelles, Matthew Garrahan, Emily Steel and Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson