First there was DISH Network's Sling TV. Then Sony's PlayStation Vue. Now, it looks like Disney and FOX are looking to get into the cord-cutting game, as a new report hints that Hulu could be on its way to launching a live streaming Internet television service next year.

At the moment, Hulu is an on demand television and movie streaming service much like Netflix or HBO Go. But in early 2017 that may change, as a new report based on several unnamed insider sources from The Wall Street Journal details.

The Netflix rival, a partnership by huge media conglomerates with part ownership stakes including Disney, 21st Century Fox, and Comcast/NBCUniversal, is reportedly working to launch cable TV-style Internet streaming TV service by the first quarter of 2017.

Hulu Live

If the report bears out, Hulu would become the third Internet TV subscription service backed by major media, after Sling TV and PlayStation Vue. But Hulu's live TV offering, unlike the on demand service that currently exists, may not include content from every major backer when it launches, according to the report.

Co-owners of Hulu, Disney and 21st Century Fox, are reportedly close to an agreement to license large swaths of their live TV properties in a deal underpinning the prospective new Internet TV platform.

That deal is expected to bring to Hulu Live (or whatever the new service's branding may turn out to be) some very popular channels, including broadcast television from ABC and Fox's networks, Disney-owned ESPN, the Disney Channel, and Fox-owned cable channels like FX, Fox News, along with Fox's sports channels, both national and regional.

No NBC?

But Comcast's NBCUniversal reportedly hasn't agreed to join in, leaving a broad selection of broadcast and cable channels -- whose content is currently available on Hulu on demand (but not live) -- out of the prospective Internet TV platform.

Comcast would not comment officially to The Wall Street Journal on the reported Hulu live TV launch, so we only have the report's unnamed sources "familiar with the plans" to go on right now, and they said Comcast isn't playing ball.

Price & DVR

Many details on the prospective Hulu live service have yet to be revealed, but the initial report has the subscription price pegged in the ballpark of $40 per month, which is around what PlayStation Vue subscribers pay, but about double the price of Sling TV. The latter offers a couple of major Disney networks including ESPN and the Disney Channel, along with other popular cable channels like AMC and CNN, but none of Fox's properties.

However, digital recording is not an option with Sling TV as it is with the pricier PlayStation Vue, and that's a feature reportedly expected to be on offer in Hulu's live TV service. On demand content for catching up on previous episodes of live shows is also expected to be available, though it's not clear if the whole catalogue of Hulu's current service will be included in the service or not.

What About Local?

Another important detail that remains unknown is the extent to which Hulu's live TV platform could include local broadcast channels from ABC and FOX.

Making local live broadcast content available in different areas across the country is one of the most difficult challenges of Internet TV services. As Sling TV CEO Roger Currently Sling TV CEO Roger Lynch told Latin Post last year, the process of licensing local channels is quite messy.

"Affiliates don't even know what rights they have from the national broadcasters," said Lynch. "There's just so much hair around local broadcast networks that I knew that wouldn't be something that happens quickly."

Sling TV now offers local broadcasts in a $5 add-on package called "Broadcast Extra," but the package only includes affiliates of ABC, Univision, and UniMas in six major markets: Houston, L.A., New York, Philadelphia, Raleigh-Durham and San Francisco. Similarly, PlayStation Vue currently only offers live local broadcast TV channels in New York, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, and Miami, but in those areas Vue includes the "big four," ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC.