Premium streaming video service Hulu is allegedly asking for a new $200 million investment from its media company owners, according to a Wall Street Journal, which cites unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
VentureBeat reports that the rumor comes just days after Hulu chief exec Jason Kilar announced some impressive data about the service’s growth in 2012. Hulu now has 3 million paying subscribers of its Hulu Plus service, and brought in a total of $695 million in revenue — a 65 percent increase compared to last year. But the company also spent about $500 million on content, and didn’t disclose its other expenses, which could include promoting its original content and expanding into new international markets.
The $200 million investment, according to WSJ’s sources, would be used to create more original programming and expand into other countries. Both of these areas are a core part of the business strategy for Hulu competitors Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video, meaning Hulu may just be making sure it keeps up. Netflix has committed up to $5 billion for content over the next few years, which includes original shows, such as House of Cards, Lillyhammer, Arrested Development, and more. Amazon released details for six new pilot episodes of original programming to air on Prime Instant Video.
The WSJ also indicated that Hulu could be taking a loss of up to $30 million for the year, which is based on earnings data from Disney’s most recent quarterly report.
