NBC has quietly pulled the plug on its year-old channel on YouTube.
The move comes as the network’s parent company NBC Universal and News Corp., owner of The Post, gear up to launch their new online video joint venture, Hulu.com, by the end of the month.
NBC sources said they are hoping the elimination of its promotional YouTube channel will help push traffic to Hulu.
Under its alliance with YouTube, which was unveiled last June, NBC used its official channel on the Google-owned viral video site to distribute clips from “Saturday Night Live,” “The Office” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”
Hulu, while not exactly a YouTube clone, will fill a similar role for NBC moving forward.
It will make available online clips and full episodes of NBC shows. However, its focus won’t be on user-generated clips.
Programming will be distributed through both hulu.com and a number of partner sites, including Yahoo!, AOL, MSN, Comcast and MySpace.
Hulu doesn’t have a deal with YouTube, but NBC isn’t ruling out future distribution opportunities with YouTube.
Even though NBC may not be officially distributing clips on the site anymore, user-uploaded clips from NBC’s most popular shows remain in wide distribution on YouTube.
NBC’s exit from YouTube promises to test the company’s patience with unauthorized clips from the network continuing to surface on the popular video site.
NBC Universal last week endorsed new industry standards for blocking pirated material on social networks, viral video sites and other online hubs that let users upload Web content.
YouTube still has alliances in place with media companies such as CBS, Warner Music Group, SonyBMG, Universal Music and Showtime, all of which share in the advertising revenue.