Two Major Firms Walk Away from Hulu Buyout

At least two firms have lost their bid to acquire the

of television.

According to the

, Guggenheim Digital Media and

are no longer in the running to purchase Hulu. While several companies have been added to the prospective buyer's list this year, this is the first time that any have been eliminated. Hulu's owners --

,

and

-- are rumored to be selling the streaming video giant for at least $1 billion.

With Guggenheim and KKR out of the picture,

could become one of the frontrunners for a Hulu acquisition.

was once thought to be a frontrunner, particularly after losing its bid (more or less) to acquire a controlling stake in YouTube clone Dailymotion. But analysts are not convinced that it

for Yahoo to pay $1 billion or more for the company. If the Dailymotion deal had come to fruition, Yahoo could have purchased that firm for

. Regardless, Yahoo is not one to shy away from massive acquisitions. The firm happily paid

for Tumblr last spring. If it is willing to spend that much to enhance its presence in social media, why wouldn't it do the same for video?

is another possible buyer. The telecommunications giant has reportedly teamed up with Chernin Group to acquire Hulu. In addition to those firms,

has reportedly expressed interest in joining Hulu's current buyers

they choose not to sell. Comcast may not like the idea of sharing the company with a competitor, but it might not have a choice, as it had to give up voting rights when it acquired NBCUniversal (and through that firm, a portion of Hulu) three years ago. If Hulu is sold and DirecTV wins the bid,

could end up becoming a partial owner as well. According to

, Dish might explore the possibility of a merger with DirecTV now that it has given up its bid to acquire

.