Is he coming back to Hulu

"The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" could be on their way back to Hulu.

Citing an unnamed source, The New York Times is reporting that Hulu and Comedy Central are in talks to bring the popular shows back to the video service. Although no deal has been struck, the Times claims, both sides hope to ink an agreement sooner rather than later.

"The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" were removed from Hulu last March after the companies couldn't agree to a deal that would see the video service maintain the rights to offer them. They are still available to Web users, however, on their respective Web sites.

When it announced the shows' departure from the service last year, Hulu made it clear that both it and Comedy Central benefited from the relationship. Hulu's Andy Forssell said at the time that the companies saw "very strong results" both from a revenue perspective and a viewership perspective. But even with that revenue opportunity, the Times claims Comedy Central wanted "upfront payments"--a request that Hulu balked at.

Hulu did not immediately respond to request for comment.