Sony Corp. is close to an agreement to carry a paid-TV service from Hulu LLC, operator of the second-largest video Web site, on its PlayStation 3 game console, two sources with knowledge of the talks said.
The partnership could be announced as soon as next week, according to the sources, who asked not to be identified because the arrangement hasn't been made public.
Access to video-game consoles would give Hulu's planned pay service a bigger audience and more revenue by making its Internet programming more widely available on television sets. Hulu also is in talks with CBS Corp., Viacom Inc. and Time Warner Inc. to add their TV shows to the Web site's subscription service, other sources said.
PlayStation 3 owners registered for the console's free Web service, the PlayStation Network, would be able to subscribe to a Hulu service that provides on-demand access to current and past seasons of prime-time TV shows from NBC, Fox and ABC, the sources said. Hulu also is in talks to put its $9.95 a month service on Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox, Reuters reported previously.