• by Wayne Friedman , November 12, 2015

The Wall Street Journal reported that the premium TV platform -- co-owned by Comcast Corp (NBCUniversal), Walt Disney and 21st Century Fox -- is in talks to sell a stake in the company to Time Warner valued between $5 billion and $6 billion.

According to the report, Time Warner would now be an equal partner with the other three big media companies. Time Warner stock closed down 0.9% to $70.41.

Two years ago, the owners of Hulu abandoned plans to sell the company -- instead promising to invest $750 million in the video platform. Possible buyers then included Yahoo, DirecTV, and Time Warner Cable, among others. Time Warner Cable -- the cable operator -- was once a part of Time Warner.

Hulu has looked to compete more closely with the much larger Netflix recently -- offering an advertising-free option to watching TV shows online at $11.99 a month.

Shares of Netflix close down 3.5% to $108.92.