Apple to Buy Hulu? [REPORT]

Apple could be considering a purchase of popular online video service Hulu, according to “two people who weren’t authorized to speak publicly.”

The two sources spoke with Bloomberg, calling the negotiations “early talks that may lead to an offer for Hulu.”

The Hulu rumor mill was already heating up over the past few days — we reported about a bidding war for Hulu, which is shopping itself around to potential acquirers after deciding not to go through with a $2 billion IPO.

Sweetening the deal is a promise of five years of programming for Hulu’s highest bidder, including two years of exclusivity for the programming on Hulu, consisting of content from the Walt Disney Company, News Corp. and Comcast’s NBC Universal.

While Microsoft is reportedly not interested in a second round of bidding for the online video company, Yahoo is still in play. Business Insider reported on Tuesday that the price for the premium online service could reach $2 billion.

Chase Carey May Replace Murdoch as News Corp CEO [REPORT]

by Jolie O'Dell

Current News Corp. COO Chase Carey may be the company’s next CEO, following the long reign of media mogul and News Corp. founder, chairman, and current CEO Rupert Murdoch.

Both the titan himself and the media company have been somewhat beleaguered of late, surrounded by scandal and failure on all sides. Sources of Bloomberg said whether Murdoch stays or goes may depend on his performance in an upcoming hearing.

News Corp. independent directors named Carey as a possible new CEO in meetings yesterday but did not come to a final decision, according to Bloomberg.

News Corp. is the parent company of News of the World, which itself has been the center of a scandal involvingphone hacks and one dead whistleblower. Both Murdoch and his son have been asked to give testimony about the matter to a British parliamentary committee next week.

In the meantime, the incident has triggered a string of attacks on related websites, including a false report of Murdoch’s death.

And then there’s MySpace, the company’s flagship digital property, which had to be sold last month at a loss of hundreds of millions of dollars. It’s unknown whether MySpace’s failure is tied to the rumors of Murdoch’s replacement, but it’s most certainly related to the slump in News Corp.’s stock prices.