Hulu has been a success, but the simple fact is that the video joint venture between News Corp. and NBC Universal needs YouTube if it wants to have any hope of surviving.

According to tech blog Ars Technica, NBC created a HuluDotCom channel on YouTube to plug its library of shows.

The channel, which features clips from "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy," is meant to drive traffic from the Google-owned video platform to Hulu, which has been adamant that it is not a competitor of YouTube.

Hulu, which has been deemed a success because it sold out of its limited ad inventory, hasn't been able to attract enough of an audience to make the site a household name. The decision to market itself on YouTube underscores the power of the Google property. Though YouTube hasn't yet found a monetization model, its position as a web-based star factory is unrivaled. Perhaps that's why major brand advertisers continue to experiment with contests and channels on YouTube.