GAME CONSOLE OWNERS STREAMING MEDIA USAGE INCREASES SIGNIFICANTLY

New data from Nielsen suggests that console owners are using their Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii game consoles to stream video content more than ever before. “Streaming now represents a reported 14 percent of Xbox 360 time, 15 percent of PS3 time and 33 percent of Wii time,” Nielsen said Wednesday. The market research firm explained that the growth in time spent streaming was driven by services such as ESPN 3, Netflix, MLB Network and Hulu, but that time spent using consoles also increased overall. Console usage during the first half of 2011 jumped 7% from the same time period last year. Nielsen said gaming is the most popular activity on Xbox 360 (34% of usage), the PS3 is most used for DVD/Blu-ray viewing (22% of usage) and the Wii is used most for offline gaming (55% of usage)

GOOGLE VIDEO SITES GET 21 BILLION VIEWS PER MONTH

The latest report from comScore makes for eye popping reading -- Google's video sites, of which YouTube is the most important, received 20,933,113,000 views in October. To put that into some context, that's roughly three videos watched by every person alive on the planet. According to the statistics, YouTubers spent an average of seven hours watching the month's hottest videos.

Surprisingly, Facebook came second, but viewers spent an measly average of 18 minutes watching last night's karaoke. In other news, Hulu came top for online advertising and Vevo was the most watched partner site, you guys obviously love your Lady Gaga.

AMAZON BRINGING 400 MAGAZINES AND NEWSAPERS TO FIRE ALONG WITH "THOUSANDS" OF APPS

Last week Amazon announced they would be bringing Facebook, Hulu and "several thousand" other apps to their upcoming Kindle Fire tablet. Now, they are announcing that more than 400 "full-color" titles will be available on the Kindle Fire Newsstand, including Us Weekly, The New Yorker and Reader's Digest, among others. Users who subscriber before March 1st, meanwhile, will be able to access a full 17 Condé Nast titles for free, as part of a three-month offer.

HULU PULLS ITSELF OFF SALE TABLE

After all the speculation over who would buy Hulu, the company just announced on its blog that the answer is: no one. While that's been out there as a possibility, it's still a surprise after Hulu's long summer. Things started with a surprise bid from Yahoo back in June, followed quickly by an invitation for more offers. Ultimately however, the networks that own the site have decided keeping it to themselves is the best option -- we'll see what that does to its growth and future plans.

HULU SALE IN TROUBLE

According to Reuters, a slew of speed bumps have slowed down interest and the bidding process and may even kill all hopes of selling the service. According to sources, the first bump in the road can be attributed to Hulu's owners -- News Corp., Disney, NBC Universal and Providence Equity Partners -- who may not all be on the same page when it comes to selling the service. Without a unified front, it's been hard for the company to find an acceptable offer from the likes of Google, Amazon, DirecTV and Dish Network, who have all talked about bidding between $500 million to $2 billion. As the service awaits a new round of bids next week, it's been said that the major players involved have (unsurprisingly) agreed to reject any lowball offers.

The second issue is content licensing. Some content owners have quietly been grumbling about a sale and legal threats have been bandied about. Some content owners are wanting a piece of the pie in the sale and others are considering pulling their content depending on who the winner of the bidding war is.

All of this is making the process of selling Hulu a real challenge and some sources are saying the owners may pull the company off the market.

APPLE CONSIDERS BID FOR HULU

Apple is toying with the idea of placing a bid on the Hulu video streaming service, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. In June, Hulu announced that it had hired Morgan Stanley and Guggenheim Partners to assist with a the sale of the company and rumor had it that Yahoo! was interested in making a bid at that time. Should an acquisition happen, Apple might use Hulu to create a subscription screaming video offering in an effort to compete with services such as Netflix. Currently, customers can only purchase or rent videos from iTunes.

Amazon is also interested in the company, although Bloomberg reported that it won’t make a move unless it can have guaranteed access to television shows. Hulu, which offers a premium Hulu Plus subscription option for $7.99 per month, said that it expects to surpass 1 million subscribers this August.

MICROSOFT DROPS OUT OF BIDDING FOR HULU

Microsoft Corp. is dropping out of the bidding for Hulu LLC, the online video service put up for sale by its media-company owners, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, told Hulu executives last week it wouldn’t continue into a second round, said the person, who wasn’t authorized to talk publicly. The person didn’t rule out Microsoft re-entering later.

Hulu bankers at Morgan Stanley and Guggenheim Partners met in the past four weeks with Microsoft, which already rents and sells films and TV shows through its Xbox video-game console, to solicit an offer, people with knowledge of the situation said on July 1. The bankers also met with Google Inc., Yahoo Inc., AT&T Inc. and as many as eight other companies, they said.

Elisa Schreiber, a spokeswoman for Los Angeles-based Hulu, declined to comment, as did Frank Shaw, a spokesman for Microsoft.

HULU STRIKES CONTENT DEAL WITH FOX AND DISNEY, NBC IN TALKS

Now that Hulu's owners have apparently decided the best thing to do is sell it to someone else, long arrangements for content are needed to bring the highest price. Bloomberg is reporting that after cutting a deal with Fox a few days ago Hulu has now tentatively reached a deal with another of its owners, Disney. While both arrangements could keep the TV shows flowing, they also reportedly include provisions to increase the number of ads shown on the service. That would also put it in position to reach a similar agreement with Comcast-owned NBCUniversal, because of the media giant's FCC promise to reach similar agreements as its competitors for online content.

HULU CONFIRMS IT IS FOR SALE

Hulu has hired bankers Morgan Stanley and Guggenheim Partners to sell the online video site. Hulu is jointly owned by News Corp's Fox, Disney's ABC and Comcast's NBC (although NBC has no voting power or a seat on the board). Hulu has stated it is on track to generate over $500 million in revenue this year, making it a quite attractive property.

Earlier this week it was rumored Yahoo was interested in Hulu and had tendered an initial offer. No news on if that offer was considered, but the board has not met to discuss any offers, so it is doubtful Yahoo's offer was sufficient.

Last year, Hulu and Morgan Stanley floated the notion of an IPO, which went nowhere because the company couldn’t secure long-term exclusive content licenses from its owners.

RUMOR: YAHOO LOOKING TO ACQUIRE HULU

According to the LA Times, Yahoo Inc. recently approached Hulu to discuss a possible acquisition of the popular online video service, citing a source with knowledge of the matter. Hulu, whose owners include media giants News Corp., Walt Disney Co. and Comcast Corp., has been struggling to find a balance between the desires of consumers to watch shows free online and its owners' interest in protecting the value of their programming. Late last year, it launched a paid subscription service to complement its free offerings.

Although there has been interest in the company, it remains unclear whether its owners have any desire to sell. Hulu has not taken any traditional steps associated with a sale such as retaining an investment bank to field offers. However, it is currently undergoing a restructuring that would give Chief Executive Jason Kilar and his executive team greater autonomy while imposing new rules on the availability of television content.

On Tuesday afternoon, word of the unsolicited offer spread and was subsequently confirmed by people close to the company. It is not known whether the offer came from Yahoo or another entity. Spokespersons for Yahoo, Hulu, News Corp. and Comcast declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

RUMOR: HULU'S CEO JASON KILAR TO BE FIRED

Business Insider is reporting that the guiding hand behind the rise of Hulu is about to be fired. Sources within News Corp say it is as "good as done" and that it has been in the works for some time now.

Hulu is locked in heated negotiations with content providers over how shows should be consumed on the internet and what the cost should be. Kilar believes all content should be made available on-demand, but others are on the opposite end of that thinking. If the rumor is true, it will be interesting to see what direction Hulu takes after Kilar's departure.

HULU PLUS LAUNCHES WITH PRICE DROP AND ADDS ROKU ACCESS

Hulu Plus officially launched yesterday with a price drop. The company announced Wednesday that it is bringing Hulu Plus out of preview for really real this time, and for $7.99 per month—a $2 price drop.

Hulu is undoubtedly trying to spur subscriptions after much Internet angst over the $9.99 per month price during the preview period. Hulu CEO Jason Kilar said that the company would give credits to those users who had already subscribed for $9.99, and moving forward, new users will be paying only $7.99. New customers will also get a free week trial before they get charged, and existing subscribers will get two free weeks.

In addition to the price drop, Hulu and Roku also announced that Hulu Plus is now available on all new and existing Roku boxes. The companies said that this was coming, so it's not a huge surprise, but Hulu undoubtedly planned its official launch of the service to coincide with its appearance on Roku (which is giving away one free month of Hulu Plus with the purchase of a new device). The company said that its apps for the PlayStation 3, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, and Samsung would also get an update within the next week.

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HULU PLUS LEAVES BETA, AVAILABLE TO ALL WITH SUBSCRIPTION

Hulu Plus, a premium Web-based video streaming service, is now available to the public. Rob Wong, product director for Hulu Plus, made the announcement Thursday on the company’s blog, saying the service is now available without need for an invitation. Hulu provides a service that allows users to stream movies and TV episodes for free to computers. Hulu Plus, which costs $9.99 each month (there are rumors of a price drop coming soon), offers enhancements such as additional content and the ability to stream to more devices like Apple’s iPhone and the Sony PlayStation 3. Rumors suggest interest in Hulu Plus has been minimal though, thanks to widely available free content as well as subscription competition like Netflix’s Watch Instantly. Hulu claims to have had a successful closed beta period, however, and it will continue to expand the service to more devices during the current open preview period. [BGR]

RUMOR: HULU PLUS CUTTING PRICE

Hulu Plus was announced back in June with much promise and a $9.95/month price tag.  Now it is rumored that Hulu will be cutting that price almost in half to $4.95/month.  With the service still in private beta a price drop isn't that unusual, but it may signal an impeding launch.

Hulu Plus promises users the ability to stream full episodes all season long in addition to full series runs.  Content will be accessible from the computer, iPhone, iPad, some internet connected televisions, Blu-Ray players, PS3 and the Xbox 360. [Geek]