Hulu CEO Jason Kilar doesn't have a contract, and talks to re-sign him haven't begun, we've learned from a source close to a Hulu parent company.
The hold-up is that Hulu parent companies Disney, Comcast, and News Corporation are in talks with its fourth part-owner, Providence Equity Partners, about buying out its stake.
The buyout is meant to recompense Providence for the exit it did not get last fall when it looked like Hulu would sell for ~$4 billion, but didn't when Disney, Comcast, and News Corporation decided their joint venture might actually be on its way to becoming something.
The reason the Providence buyout is slowing things down is that, when Providence gets its buyout, Hulu management, including Kilar, will get a good bit of liquidity too.
Cha-ching, as they say.
We're insistently told by some that Kilar would very much like to stick around (even though reports have him looking at jobs elsewhere, including Facebook).
We're also told that Hulu's parent companies are not certain that they want to keep him.
One view of Hulu is that it is a remarkable success – the first time old media companies have figure out a good product on the Web.
Another view of Hulu is that it is a middling success, considering it has exclusive access to extremely popular video content. The people with this view say that Kilar was born on third base, and hasn't figured out how to score a run yet.
Hulu and Kilar declined to comment on the record for this story.
More From Business Insider
