• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, January 13, 2012

In the face of strong growth numbers, Hulu’s health remained a cause for contention on Friday. “Hulu didn't end up getting sold in 2011, but it nonetheless turned out to be a pretty big year for the premium video streaming service,” reports ReadWriteWeb.

“Hulu had a big year in 2011 and they want everybody to know,” writes WebProNews.

Overall, Hulu said its business grew by 60% year-over-year, and raked in $420 million in revenue. The company also said it now has more than 1.5 million Hulu Plus subscribers.

“That’s good news for the company that looked like it was about to be sold last year,” writes Forbes. Impressive indeed -- until one recalls that Hulu CEO Jason Kilar predicted $500 million in revenue, writes AllThingsD. In a blog post, Kilar blames the shortfall on a “soft advertising market (economy) in the second half of 2011.”

In Hulu’s defense, the Los Angeles Times concedes: “The advertising market slowed during the third and fourth quarters, putting a crunch on the company's ambitious estimates.”

 Also, as paidContent notes, Kilar preempted the miss by writing in July that Hulu was still on track “to approach” $500 million in revenue.

Going forward, writes VentureBeat: “Hulu operations are so peachy keen that the company will spend almost half a billion dollars on new content in 2012, CEO Jason Kilar would have you know.”

Adds LAT: “This year should be healthier for Hulu and other media companies because of the rebounding ad market.”