Online digital video store M-Go is testing gift card...

are scrambling to establish position within the market amid reports that many them are seeking alliances with cable operators. M-Go’s owners include cable set-top supplier Technicolor, while Hulu, which has Fox, Disney and Comcast among investors, is pursuing deals with cable operators to offer Hulu as a means for watching current shows online, said industry officials. A Hulu spokeswoman declined to comment, but said it “would be nice” if a cable agreement were reached. Hulu’s discussions with cable operators follow the hiring of former News Corp. executive Mike Hopkins as CEO and the infusion of $750 million into the company by Comcast, Disney and Fox earlier this year. Hulu, with more than 4 million subscribers, is expected to increase revenue this year from the $695 million it posted in 2012, said the spokeswoman. Hulu also has started production in New York of the 10-episode original comedy series Deadbeat that will be released next fall, the spokeswoman said. Hulu also ordered a second season of Occupant Entertainment’s Behind the Mask documentary series that focuses on the world of high school, college and pro sports mascots and the people behind them, it has said. “A percentage of the money we received” from investors in July “is going to original content because we know that is among the things that people want,” the Hulu spokeswoman said. M-Go will have kiosks in 287 Kroger, Ralphs and Vons stores to display $14.95 gift cards redeemable for about a dozen movies with a goal of further expanding the strategy in 2014, said an M-Go spokeswoman. Among the studios providing titles are 21st Century Fox, DreamWorks Animation, Sony and Warner Brothers, she said. M-Go sought out “the biggest national retailers” to deploy the kiosks as a “proof of concept,” said the spokeswoman. The store locations were chosen within “high-performing home entertainment” markets so M-Go could test the “correlation between historical home entertainment performance and a digital offer,” she said. The kiosks are being installed near each store’s gift card section placing movie studio titles in a “high traffic store locations where consumers go on a weekly basis,” the M-Go spokeswoman said. “This offers the convenience and security of a gift card with the tangible gratification of DVD impulse” purchases, she said. M-Go has signed a distribution agreement for Disney titles, more than a dozen of which were available Tuesday. With Disney’s involvement, M-Go has expanded its library to 19,000 titles, from 14,000 in September, with a goal of reaching 24,000 by year-end, the spokeswoman said. M-Go also developed iPad and Android apps, both of which are expected to be available “very shortly,” she said. The iPad app will be for viewing and not for transactions, she said.