• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, October 14, 2011

Really, Hulu? Really?! After openly shopping itself around for months, the video venture has gone and taken itself off the block.

"Since Hulu holds a unique and compelling strategic value to each of its owners, we have terminated the sale process," Hulu management explained in a blog post published late Thursday. "Our focus now rests solely on ensuring that our efforts as owners contribute in a meaningful way to the exciting future that lies ahead for Hulu."

For one, “Netflix's recent missteps … have widened the playing field,” writes CNNMoney.com. “Unhappy Netflix customers are hunting for alternatives, and Hulu is among the rivals competing to scoop them up.”

Meanwhile, Reuters reported last month that the auction was in danger of getting derailed by conflicts over convoluted digital rights, a wide bid-ask gap, and a lack of commitment to sell by Hulu's owners, among other issues.

This week, Reuters reported: “Sources with knowledge of the talks said last month a rift had developed between the price bidders offered and the amount that Hulu's owners were willing to accept.”

“The initial set of bids by companies like Google and Dish Network fell short of the Hulu owners’ expectations, which reportedly ranged from about $2 billion to $4 billion,” writes VentureBeat. 

Indeed, “Hulu’s owners wanted above $2 billion, but only guaranteed streaming rights for a couple of years,” TechCrunch writes. “The value of Hulu is in the content deals it has with its owners to stream NBC, Fox, and ABC television series over the Internet. If those rights were to disappear in two years, Hulu’s value would drop significantly. Hence, the lowball offers.”

“So that ends one chapter of the odd Hulu story,” AllThingsD writes. “Not a shocking end, because it has never been clear that Hulu’s owners … actually did want to hand it off to someone else.”