Usage data shows video site Hulu is thriving

Having just moved into a new apartment, I was without cable television for a few weeks. So what did I do to watch some of the network shows such as The Office that I’m addicted to? I turned to Hulu, the streaming video service that was started last year by NBC Universal and News Corp. (owners of Fox). Given some new usage numbers just released, it appears others are tuning into Hulu with me.

Nielsen Net Ratings numbers (by way of TechCrunch) show that Hulu streamed over 63 million videos in April. The average user watched over two hours of video in the month. These are both very good numbers. In fact, they make Hulu the leader among all network sites in videos streamed and engagement time for the month.

While many were skeptical about Hulu when it was announced, it has since won over many of its critics. Remember, Hulu came about shortly after NBC announced its intention to pull its content from iTunes, the most popular online video store. NBC also pulled its content from YouTube. To many, Hulu seemed like an ill-advised experiment to stick it to Apple and Google. Instead, NBC has been able to create a worthwhile service with a killer feature: free premium content.