Hulu forges deals with Fox & Disney for upcoming live TV service

By Roger Fingas

Hulu on Tuesday announced content deals with two of its co-owners, Fox and Disney, as it prepares to launch a live TV service next year.

The Fox material will include "entertainment, news, sports and non-fiction content," Reuters reported. Disney, meanwhile, will be offering up video from channels lke ABC and ESPN.

Time Warner -- which bought a 10 percent stake in Hulu this August, and could soon be owned by AT&T -- is planning to include channels like TBS, Cartoon Network, and Turner Classic Movies.

The new service doesn't yet have a firm launch date or pricing, but will include at least some on-demand video on top of live broadcasts. At the moment Hulu offers two on-demand tiers: a $7.99 option with regular ad breaks, and a $11.99 "no commercials" plan which, despite its name, still inserts limited ads into some shows.

Rumors have hinted that Hulu could charge close to $40 per month for the combo live TV/on-demand package, but that price might be too high relative to bundles from Sling TV and PlayStation Vue.

Apple has long been rumored as wanting a live TV service of its own, but the company has reportedly taken a hardline approach in negotiations and made little headway -- even trying to undercut Disney, a close corporate partner whose CEO is on the Apple board.