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Hulu hits 1 billion views on YouTube

YouTube's leading competitor just hit a huge milestone with little more than cartoon clips and ads. 

 

Fruzsina Eördögh

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Posted on May 31, 2012   Updated on Jun 2, 2021, 4:24 pm CDT

Hulu recently hit a billion views on YouTube—with hardly any effort.

The online video-streaming service has sporadically maintained a channel on the Google-owned site, which also happens to be their main competitor, since March 2008.

Unceremoniously named HuluDotCom (“hulu” was snapped up in 2006 but never used), the YouTube channel houses 175 minute-long clips of Family Guy and The Simpsons, along with the occasional Hulu commercial.

The channel has become a popular destination for fans of both shows over the years, despite the fact that a new Family Guy clip hasn’t been published since October 2009.

“Am I the only one who subscribed cause of the Family guy clips?” user milestailsprower320 commented on a Japanese Hulu commercial. His comment was liked 132 times.

While YouTube has made a push towards professional content, receiving popular clips from its leading competitor is probably not what the company had in mind. However, Hulu may not be profiting off YouTube as much as its contemporaries.

Only 36 other YouTube channels have hit one billion views, and almost all of them share ad revenue with the site—except HuluDotCom.

Photo via HuluDotCom/YouTube

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*First Published: May 31, 2012, 1:10 pm CDT