Hulu Turns 1

I didn’t realize when I declared my scientific experiment to go on an all-Hulu diet this week that the site turns 1 today. It seems like yesterday that the site launched as a joint venture between News Corp. and NBC Universal in the wake of criticism that they were missing the boat with online video.

Since then, it has unexpectedly become a nice little site, with rapid growth to show. Last month, Nielsen reported the site streamed 142 million videos (a 42 percent increase from August). It’s also racked up 110 content partners compared with the 40 it had at launch, including NBCU, Sony Pictures Television, Fox and Comedy Central. Total titles now stand at 1,000 TV shows and 400 movies, TechCrunch reports.

It’s also done well with social media — rare for an online spawn of two traditional media giants. This has included 72,000 reviews on the site, 14,000 forum posts and 50,000 e-mails. Outside its own walls, it hasn’t done bad either, with mentions in 4,000 media articles, 25,000 blog posts and 40,000 Twitter tweets.

Happy birthday, Hulu. You have at least one new fan.