Who’s Watching Hulu?

Interesting news from the Wall Street Journal, via the NAB Newsbrief:

Confounding experts that predicted floods of young adults would abandon TV for websites like Hulu.com, it appears that…  (FTA)

When the company launched (Hulu) last March, the largest age group visiting the site were those Internet visitors over 55 years old, accounting for 47% of all site visits, while traditionally younger early adopters accounted for only 17% of traffic.

Wow.  Maybe the old folks aren’t entirely fossilized yet.  Of course, there is a claimed reason that Hulu is so popular with the Geritol set, as opposed to, say, YouTube:

It later became clear that what first appeared to be a data anomaly was the result of Hulu.com’s very Web 1.0 launch strategy, which used articles in the New York Times and other newspapers to attract viewers. As a result, after its release in October 2007, more than 20% of Hulu’s traffic came from newspaper Web sites. The largest age demographic for visitors to print news Web sites is older Internet users over the age of 55.

So it’s all about how you promote your site?  Hmmmm.  I do remember very clearly the day I decided the Web was going to stick - it was when I saw a Buick ad on TV in the mid-90’s that had, in tiny type on the bottom, the words “buick.com.”  If the uncoolest car brand in the world could see the value, maybe we all could, eventually.

So are we on our way to a stratified World Wide Web, where the kids own some stuff and the codgers own the rest?  It seems we might already be there (this is one of the downsides of almost unlimited choice.)  But look out, kids - I hear the fastest-growing cohort of new members on Facebook is - you guessed it - over-50’s.

Is nothing sacred anymore?

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