While Hulu, the joint video venture formed by NBC Universal and News Corp., plays catchup to YouTube in terms of views, attracting only a fraction of the 81 million people who visit YouTube each month, it still managed to generate nearly the same revenue in its first year in business, according to reports. How?

After over a year of development, testing and refining, online video service Hulu launches Wednesday and viewers will get to chance to see if it lives up to all the hullabaloo.

HULU Offers Free Streams of Hit TV Shows, Movies and Clips from More Than 50 Providers Including FOX, NBC Universal, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. and Sony Pictures Television. HULU.com also announces New Licensing Deals with the Warner Bros. Television Group, Lionsgate, NBA, NHL and more.

The long awaited and talked about Youtube rival, Hulu, is finally here, or at least for some it is, as News Corporation and NBC began testing their site publicly Monday.