Insert Bad “Hulu Hoopla” Pun Here
by John Paczkowski
Posted on August 20, 2008 at 4:47 AM PT
As the lines between television and the Internet grow increasingly blurry, online video services are seeing quite a bit of audience growth. Predictably, YouTube has been top among them. The company served up five billion video streams to some 77 million unique users in July, according to Nielsen Online, which ranked it as the top Web brand for that period. Fox Interactive Media (NWS) ranked second with nearly 300 million streams and just over 20 million uniques. Not much of a surprise there, either. What is surprising, though, is Hulu’s July performance. The company saw a 20 million video stream spike for the month, thanks in part to the direct-to-Web musical, “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog,” which brought quite a few viewers its way. And, with more than 105 million streams and 3.2 million uniques, Hulu placed eighth in Nielsen’s July ranking, surpassing CNN and Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network. Not bad for a service that only launched in March.
