Briefcase

Hulu predicts online video subscribers will top 1 million by the end of summer

LOS ANGELES – Online video service Hulu expects to have more than a million paying subscribers by the end of summer, several months earlier than forecast, its chief executive said in a blog post Wednesday.

The rapid popularity of the paid plan may increase interest in Hulu, whose media company parents – including The Walt Disney Co., News Corp. and Comcast Corp. – have put it up for sale.

Hulu Chief Executive Jason Kilar said the number of people who paid $8 a month for the Hulu Plus service hit 875,000 in June. Paying customers get access to a deep catalog of TV shows and can watch on mobile and other connected devices. The free service is available only on computers. Both entail watching video ads.

Kilar also said Hulu remains on track to make nearly $500 million in revenue in 2011, up from $263 million in 2010. He reiterated that the company is profitable.

The company began presenting its financial information to interested bidders late last month after an unsolicited offer prompted its board to look afield for other offers.

About a dozen potential buyers are in discussions with Hulu, including search leader Google Inc. and portal operator Yahoo Inc., according to a person familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity because the talks were confidential.

Associated Press

Facebook announces video calls

NEW YORK – Quick on the heels of Google’s launch of its latest social-networking venture, Facebook said Wednesday that its 750 million users will now be able to make video calls on the site.

The feature will be powered by the Internet phone service Skype. Facebook also redesigned its chat feature, so that the people a user messages the most often show up first.

To make video calls, Facebook users with webcam-equipped computers have to select the friends they want to chat with. In the chat window that pops up, clicking on a small blue video icon brings up the video chat feature.

Facebook is also adding a group chat option. This works much the same way as the group chat on Google Plus. Once you are chatting with one friend, you can click an icon to add more people to the conversation.

Associated Press

Treasury recovers on securities buys

WASHINGTON – The Treasury Department has recovered about 65 percent so far of the $225 billion it spent to buy mortgage-backed securities to help stabilize the housing market during the recession.

As the government sells off its holdings, officials reiterated Wednesday that they expected to make a profit on the sales of the securities purchased from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2008 and 2009.

Last month the Treasury sold $10.6 billion in securities and received an additional $2.1 billion in principal and interest payments, bringing the outstanding principal in the department’s holdings to $94.5 billion.

The Treasury has recovered $146.9 billion of the $225 billion it spent to buy the securities, including $35 billion in sales and $111.9 billion in principal and interest payments.

Los Angeles Times