It's difficult to say how close Hulu is to being sold off to a new owner, but the bidding war is ramping up once again. Bloomberg reports that DirecTV and two other prospective buyers are each offering $1 billion or more for the video streaming service. Hulu’s board is said to be considering at least seven acquisition offers and aims to pursue talks with "three or four" of the most serious candidates over the next several weeks, the report says. Other than the satellite provider, Bloomberg doesn't specify which other interested parties are bidding that high. Earlier this week, it was revealed that Yahoo has bid between $600 million and $800M to add Hulu to its growing list of acquisitions.
Hulu owners News Corp and Disney / ABC are reportedly looking to offload the popular service; Comcast also holds stake in Hulu, but federal regulators have barred NBC's parent from influencing a potential sale. Still, despite the rising offers, Disney executive Anne Sweeney reiterated on stage at D11 that Hulu may not be sold at all if a beneficial deal can't be worked out. It wouldn't be the first time the company backed away from talks of a sale, and Hulu's momentum with consumers grants its owners the luxury of time in finding the ideal buyer.