ITV Hulu deal rumours resurface

UK commercial broadcaster ITV is set to ink a content deal with online on-demand content service Hulu “within weeks”, according to UK press reports.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that ITV was closest to signing a deal amongst UK broadcasters, citing unnamed sources close to the negotiations.

Hulu, which is owned by Disney, News Corp. and NBC, is expected to kick off its international roll out in the UK later this year or in early 2010. It is also believed to be in talks with BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the UK public broadcaster, and Channel 4. A deal with ITV would mean that Hulu would be the only non-ITV website able to show programmes from ITV Productions, the broadcaster’s content arm.