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Chernin, Guggenheim, pay-TV distributors bid for Hulu

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The initial bids are in for online media’s most talked-about sale: Hulu.

The online video site, which is jointly owned by News Corp., Walt Disney Co. and Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal, attracted bids this week from two of Hollywood’s digital media power-players and two pay TV distributors.

The Chernin Group, a next-generation media company founded by longtime News Corp. executive Peter Chernin, submitted a bid together with Providence Equity, according to several people familiar with the matter. The offer represents a homecoming of sorts for both. Chernin was an advocate for the creation of Hulu while serving as News Corp.’s chief operating officer and Providence Equity used to own a stake in the company.

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Guggenheim Digital Media, a group headed by former Yahoo Inc. interim Chief Executive Ross Levinsohn, also submitted a bid, say the people with knowledge of the situation, who declined to be identified because of the confidential nature of the bidding process.

The field of companies pursuing Hulu also includes pay television providers Time Warner Cable and DirecTV, these people said.

Hulu ranks among the nation’s leading 15 online video sites, with about 22 million monthly users, according to measurement firm ComScore. It also has seen the number of subscribers double in the last year to 4 million, while revenue rose to $695 million in 2012.

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