Could Time Warner be joining Hulu’s investor fold?

Fast-growing online streaming service Hulu is looking to sell an ownership stake to Time Warner Inc., a move that would make Time Warner the fourth media giant in Hulu’s investor fold.

The streaming service approached Time Warner about two months ago with the proposition and talks are in the preliminary stages, a person close to the situation told the Los Angeles Times.

The discussions have centered on making Time Warner an equal stakeholder in Hulu. The streaming service is currently co-owned by media giants Walt Disney Co., 21st Century Fox Inc. and Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal. The potential addition of Time Warner to Hulu’s investor party would mean each company would have a 25% stake in the company.

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The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on the talks and said such a deal could value Hulu at more than $5 billion.

The deal, should it happen, would cap off a slew of headline-making pacts -- mostly in the programming space -- that Hulu has inked in recent months in an effort to better compete with Netflix and Amazon.

The Santa Monica-based company, which launched in 2008, has emerged as an aggressive player in the video streaming world -- it has become a competitive player in the battle for exclusive subscription-video-on-demand rights, and has upped its roster of original programs with all-star talent.

To further its bid to play shoulder-to-shoulder with its competitors, Hulu recently rolled out an ad-free subscription-video-on-demand option for $11.99 per month.

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