Hulu announced it will close 2012 with more than 3 million paying Hulu Plus subscribers, a huge coup for the company that also offers a version of the same service, albeit with less content, for free.
In a Hulu blog, Jason Kilar, CEO of the company, also announced the company would finish the year with $695 million in revenue, a more than 65 percent increase over 2011.
The online video streaming service, which exited beta testing and launched in November 2010, has managed to hit the 3 million subscriber mark despite stiff competition from other streaming services like Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX), Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) Prime and HBO Go.
"We're so thankful to our customers and for the trust they place in us each day," wrote Kilar, adding Hulu is "doubly fortunate in that we are at the crest of two massive waves that we believe will persist for the long term: the rise of online video advertising and the rise of online video subscription services."
The Verge noted some of Hulu's recent increase in subscribers can be attributed to its deployment on the Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) TV and Wii U as well as a 40 percent increase in the amount of content available on the site.
Mashable, on the other hand, examined the business side of Hulu by noting that, although Kilar hadn't specified what contributed to the company's revenue accumulation, "the suggestion is that this increase is due both to the growing number of subscribers and the company's growing number of advertising partnerships." According to the story, Hulu ran ads from more than 1,000 advertisers this year.
For more:
- check out Kilar's blog post
- see the story in The Verge
- read the Mashable story
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