Apple explores Hulu bid

Apple Inc is in the early stages of examining Hulu LLC, a video streaming pioneer that has been put up for sale by its owners.

"Apple, which sits on $76.2 billion in cash and investments, is in the preliminary stages of looking at the site, which allows users to stream television shows and movies over the internet," The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a source.

The company's interest was at the earliest stages and may not result in a bid, the report added.

Apple's nascent interest comes as Hulu's owners look to sell the popular property. Hulu's owners include Comcast Corp, News Corp and Providence Equity Partners.

Hulu has rights to popular TV shows such as The Office, The Daily Show and Family Guy.

It competes with Netflix Inc.

The report noted that YouTube, a Google Inc property, is trying to compete with Hulu and Netflix, and is attempting to strike deals with content providers for 'premium' shows and movies.

Like Hulu and Netflix, YouTube would charge for those offerings or subsidise them with advertising revenue.

Earlier, the daily said that Google, as well as its competitor Yahoo Inc, were also looking at Hulu.