Online video site Hulu has begun preliminary sales talks with about a dozen potential buyers, including Google Inc, Microsoft Corp and Yahoo Inc, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Hulu's financial advisers, Morgan Stanley and Guggenheim Partners, set up meetings with potential buyers, and the company has been making the rounds this week. More discussions are expected to occur next week, said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.

Hulu, owned by Walt Disney Co, News Corp, Comcast Corp's NBC Universal and Providence Equity Partners, offers free online access to prime time television shows such as "The Office." Sources said last month that Hulu, approached by a potential buyer, was pondering a sale.