May 3, 2008

Hulu Launches YouTube Channel: Why Is Everyone So Surprised?

Just before last October's beta launch of Hulu, the NBC and FOX network-backed online video platform, NBC pulled all of its content off of YouTube in order to throw full support behind its fledgling web video startup. Just before the March 3 public launch of Hulu, NBC signed up for its own Hulu channel on YouTube, leading some to question whether Hulu is struggling with traffic numbers, forcing to leverage its main "rivals" massive traffic numbers to boost its own. But everyone seems to be forgetting that around the time of the beta launch in October 2007, there was a rumor circulating that stated NBC fully intended to head back to YouTube eventually, one day hoping the company would become a formal distribution partner to Hulu. NewTeeVee's Liz Gannes was able to contact Hulu and a spokesperson said, It was absolutely planned by Hulu. We know that there are opportunities to find audiences all over the web. These are short promotional clips and we're working with NBC and FOX on this.

Even though the YouTube Hulu channel is not part of a formal agreement between the two companies, it is catching the eye of millions--literally. With only 37 clips, all under 3 minutes long, the channel had about 4 million views in April, mostly in the form of Family Guy clips. And while that's impressive, we wonder how many viewers are heading back to Hulu. Is Hulu unwittingly turning itself into nothing more than a web video distributor rather than a destination site?