The announcement, which came Friday afternoon, comes after a variety of major communications companies — including satellite provider DirecTV and AT&T — signalled interest in acquiring Hulu, which offers viewers a way to watch recent TV shows.

The news means that the existing trio of 21st Century Fox, Walt Disney and NBC Universal will continue to develop the service. The companies did not say if the new capital will be primarily directed to expanding Hulu’s free-advertising model or, instead, to promoting the subscription service, Hulu Plus.

The decision to hold onto the site is not a big surprise in light of the strategic dilemma that confronts Hulu’s current owners: the company’s value lies in its programming — but, in any sale, the current owners do not want to include long-term licenses for fear of diluting the overall value of the programming.

Here is how Chase Carey, President and Chief Operating Officer of 21st Century Fox, explained the decision:

“We believe the best path forward for Hulu is a meaningful recapitalization that will further accelerate its growth under the current ownership structure. We had meaningful conversations with a number of potential partners and buyers, each with impressive plans and offers to match, but with 21st Century Fox and Disney fully aligned in our collective vision and goals for the business, we decided to continue to empower the Hulu team, in this fashion, to continue the incredible momentum they’ve built over the last few years.”

The vote gave formal approval to a long awaited plan to split News Corp into two companies on June 28th: an entertainment concern called 21st Century Fox and a new News Corp that will house the book publisher Harper Collins, Dow Jones and Australian newspaper and TV assets.

“News Corporation’s size and complexity made it difficult for investors to understand and properly value our company,” said News Corp Chairman Rupert Murdoch said at the meeting, according to Bloomberg. “We’re confident the separation will unlock the true value of our assets.”

The split was announced last year after a hacking scandal gave further impetus to long-running shareholder complaints that Rupert Murdoch, and his fixation with newspapers, was a drag on the overall company. Analysts referred to the “Rupert discount” when assessing the stock.

The reborn News Corp will start life with solid footing: it will have a healthy cash reserve, no debt and protection from raiders. Its ultimate fate, however, appears to turn on Dow Jones’ CEO Lex Fenwick’s plans to turn the unit into a Bloomberg-like profit machine.

The split will officially take place on June 28 and will include a $500 million stock buyback fund, which will be used to purchase shares “on an opportunistic basis following the completion of the separation.”

The company also announced what investors call a poison pill in the form of provisions that allows existing shareholders to purchase $180 worth of stock for $90 in the new News Corp if any new investor should acquire 15% of the company.

There is a similar provision for 21st Century Fox, which is the new corporate name for the entertainment and cable assets which will remain after after the spin-off. The provisions, which will be in force for one year , appear to be intended to thwart hostile takeovers:

The rights agreements are intended to protect the stockholders of the Company and the new News Corporation from efforts to obtain control of such companies that their respective Boards of Directors determine are not in the best interests of the companies and their respective stockholders.

News Corporation decided to split in two last year under pressure from investors who believe the publishing assets and related scandals associated with phone hacking were a drag on the company.