Look out YouTube, here comes Hulu

Interesting data from TV Week  that shows that while YouTube remains the No. 1 online video site, Hulu continues to see exponential growth.

Hulu is the fastest-growing site among Nielsen Online’s top 10 video brand sites, which include YouTube, Yahoo!, Fox Interactive Media, Nickelodeon Kids & Family Network, MSN/Windows Live, ABC.com, MTV Networks Music and Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital.

YouTube delivered 5.5 billion total streams in April, while Hulu increased 490% from 63.2 million streams in April 2008 to hit 373.3 million in April ’09.

Jon Gibs, vice president of media and analytics for Nielsen Online, attributed Hulu’s growth to “a good interface and excellent, aggressive marketing campaign.”

“Historically, short-form, clip-length video has ruled streaming on the Web—as demonstrated by YouTube’s top spot month after month,” Mr. Gibbs added. “Hulu, along with pure-play providers like Veoh and the TV networks, have spent the past two years trying to convince consumers that the Internet can be a good place to watch full-length programming as well. April’s strong showings of Hulu, Fox and ABC suggest that consumers are beginning to listen.”

Nielsen’s report also found that people age 35-49 was the fastest-growing demographic for time spent viewing during April. Among that demographic, the top five sites were YouTube, Hulu, ABC.com, NBC.com and the CNN Digital network. Unique viewers age 35-49 represented 30% of total Hulu viewers in April.

“Despite what many believe, it is not the young, tech-savvy, early adopters who are attracted to long-form video,” Mr. Gibs said in a statement. “In fact, we see that it is the older crowd, viewers 35-plus, who gravitate toward long-form video, with sites like Hulu acting as a perfect example of this. Advertisers are paying attention,” Mr. Gibs added. “They see long-form video sites like Hulu as a safe bet for online advertising, recognizing that their key audiences are there and more willing to sit through an online advertisement while watching a favorite show, much as they do with the TV.”

Have you started to use Hulu instead of YouTube to catch up on some shows that you missed?