Hulu Attracts an Older Crowd

This article from the Wall Street Journal describes the different demographics that are attracted to Hulu, NBC's online video site, vs. YouTube and other popular social media sites.  While those sites became popular with the help of 18-24 year olds, Hulu has been attracting an older crowd - 47% of its visitors are over age 55.  The author believes this is explained partially by Hulu's marketing strategy, which relied heavily on traditional media such as newspaper ads, and also by the site's content, which is more mainstream and traditional (including full length movies and broadcast tv shows).  

Although it was a bit slow to catch on, Hulu now ranks 4th among online video sites.  And while the older demographic it is attracting is not usually prized by marketers, Hulu has several advantages over YouTube that may help it eventually win the online video category and attract the marketing spend that seems to still be up for grabs in this space.  The first is that it shows legitimate network television and movie content, without the licensing issues that YouTube faces.  According to the article 75% of terms typed into YouTube's search box pertain to this type of content, but YouTube's catalog is incomplete and clips can be pulled at any time due to licensing infractions.  Hulu's demographics are also predicted to shift as the site becomes more popular, and visits from 25-34 year olds have been growing rapidly.  This audience will help drive even more visitors to the site and will make it more attractive to marketers seeking a younger audience. Finally, Hulu was formed as a joint venture of NBC and Newscorp (which owns Fox) as a way to promote their content.  They are already showing commercial ads (which viewers expect due to the full length shows/movies) and do not face an immediate need to monetize the site through additional advertising.  

It remains to be seen how this battle will play out, but as YouTube continues to struggle with the question of how to integrate ads with its content, more targeted sites like Hulu may become even more attractive to cautious and budget wary advertisers.