Time Warner invests in Hulu

Time Warner Inc., which owns HBO, TNT and TBS, took a 10 percent stake in Hulu for $583 million, in another step blurring the lines separating cable TV from Internet video services. Hulu’s other equity stakeholders already include the parent companies of ABC, Fox and NBC — Walt Disney Co., 21st Century Fox and Comcast’s NBCUniversal. Hulu already has a deal with CBS to carry Showtime for an extra fee, while HBO has a similar arrangement with an online TV service called Sling TV. Hulu, founded in 2006, has built a name for itself in offering the ability to stream popular shows from broadcast and cable networks, typically the day after it’s shown on TV. Time Warner’s deal with Hulu comes almost a month after Comcast said that it’s adding Netflix to its X1 set-top boxes, another move from a traditional media titan collaborating with a streaming media site. There also may be more competition soon, as U.S. regulators are weighing new requirements that would require the TV industry to allow technology companies such as Google and Apple to sell cable boxes, too. If cable boxes are sold by technology companies, they will probably including more Internet applications, stepping up the pressure on incumbent providers to adapt.