After jumping to become the sixth most viewed online U.S. video site in October, Hulu managed to keep its spot in November despite not having the benefit of a Sarah Palin/Tina Fey boost from Saturday Night Live. 

Hulu is the new star of the rapid growth of online video as a mainstream media in U.S. New comScore data shows more than 77 percent of all U.S. Internet users watched online video.  

YouTube is, of course, the most watched video site by quite a stretch, with more than 12 billion videos watched. Fox Interactive Media (mostly MySpace) stands at No.2 with 439 million; Viacom Digital has 325 million and Yahoo next with 304 million. Microsoft had 296 million.

Hulu had 227 million videos viewed and maintained its highest position even though several commentators had expected Hulu’s boost would fade after the election. It’s also interesting because unlike YouTube, Hulu has managed to populate most of its mix of TV shows and old movies with advertising. This may be annoying to some online viewers but it is widely admired in the digital advertising world.

The slick site, owned by News Corp and NBC Universal, keeps winning friends and fans across the board. The New York TImes on Sunday, for instance, professed its love thus:

On Hulu, you can also watch full-screen, in nice, rolling high-resolution. After years of watching YouTube, I thought I had stopped caring about glamorous presentation. But man: the neatness and elegance of Hulu — where you can watch hundreds of whole shows from NBC, Fox and other networks, as well as movie and news clips — is so relaxing.

Top U.S. Online Video Properties* by Videos Viewed November 2008

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations

Source: comScore Video Metrix

Property                    Videos        Share (%) of

                             (000)           Videos

Total Internet            12,677,063         100.0

Google Sites               5,107,302          40.3

Fox Interactive Media        439,091           3.5

Viacom Digital               324,903           2.6

Yahoo! Sites                 304,331           2.4

Microsoft Sites              296,285           2.3

Hulu                         226,540           1.8

Turner Network               214,709           1.7

Disney Online                137,165           1.1

AOL LLC                      115,306           0.9

ESPN                          95,622           0.8
*Rankings based on video content sites; excludes video server networks.  Online video includes both streaming and progressive download video.

 As far as TV ratings go, last week’s presidential debate was a loser, drawing the one of the smaller audiences in modern history. It should be a different story for tonight’s vice-presidential debate.

For one thing, the presidential debate between John McCain and Barack Obama, which drew just 52 million people, took place on a Friday night, never a great night for TV viewing. By contrast, the match-up between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden comes on a Thursday night, usually a big TV viewing night.

Besides, even though Katie Couric’s interviews with Palin only had a modest impact on CBS News ratings, as the New York Times points out, there is nonetheless a great deal of interest in the Republican vice presidential candidate.      

“This is going to be a hugely rated debate,” said Chuck Todd, political director of NBC News, told the Hollywood Reporter.  ”Whether you’re a fan of hers or you’re not a fan, it’s a white-knuckle affair.” 

The Associated Press tells us: “The most-watched vice presidential debate ever was in 1984, when 56.7 million people watched Vice President Bush take on Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman on a major party ticket.”

We’ll soon see how tonight’s numbers stack up.

Keep an eye on: 

• Advertising group WPP declared its offer for bid target Taylor Nelson Sofres final and will not increase it (Reuters)
• Playboy magazine is launching a search for models to pose for its upcoming feature, “Women of Wall Street” (Reuters)
• News and information publisher Thomson Reuters reaffirmed its full-year outlook although it said the financial crisis hitting many customer banks would hurt the company in the short term (Reuters)

(Photo: Reuters)

What will be the size of the U.S. television audience for the vice-presidential debate?