Yahoo Would Buy Hulu, But Not Without Conditions

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We just heard not too long ago from our own Chris Smith that Netflix wasn’t at all interested in picking up Hulu. But this rejection comes hot on the heels of a potential new suitor: Yahoo.

This news, however, doesn’t come without some conditions of its own. Yahoo would be interested in picking up Hulu, according to reports, but they signed on the dotted line, they’d have to have some assurances first. Tops on the list was an issue of content; they’d want four or five years of exclusive access to the content in question. This would likely prove to be difficult to offer; most of Hulu’s previous content deals offered five years of licensing, but only two years of exclusivity, as the content providers want to get their material in front of as many eyes as possible.

At stake here is no small amount of money; Yahoo’s prepared to offer up as much as two billion dollars to lay hands on Hulu, with the conditions met. And that leaves its current owners–Walt Disney, Comcast, Providence Equity Partners and News Corp (still likely stinging from the soaking they took on MySpace)–in a bit of a bind.

Yahoo has already been making forays into the home theater market by way of their Connected TV efforts, so it’s not surprising to see them carry on into that field. Though I’d be surprised to actually see this come off; News Corp and Disney could conceivably offer five years’ exclusivity with the content they own, and that’s no small bit of content. But getting the other content providers to go along could be a tall order. I simply don’t look for this to come off as-is; Yahoo could cut its asking price for decreased exclusivity time, though, as there seems to be plenty of bargaining space in there.

So what do you guys think? Is Yahoo going to pick up Hulu for a pretty hefty sum? Or will it find itself paying less and getting less? Or as a third option, will they not be able to come to terms? No matter what side you fall on, the comments section awaits, so head on down and tell us what you think!