The Associated Press has picked Hulu as its Website of the Year:

In the Wild West that is online video, Hulu.com has proven to be a trailblazing answer to how professional content can thrive on the Web.

“This is period of great experimentation in regard to media, in regard to online video,” said Hulu chief executive officer Jason Kilar in a recent interview. “You’ve seen a lot, you’re probably going to see even more in terms of various business models, various interface designs. I personally love to operate in moments of time like that.”

While a lot of bloggers panned Hulu when it launched, based on its funny name or the fact that it was facing up against YouTube, we were impressed by Hulu’s concept:

Even more important to the site’s long-term success is the fact that it launches with a mature advertising platform in place, and advertisers lined up to use it.

I’m skeptical about Hulu’s ad implementation and navigation…..the site does a great job delivering the shows, though.

I caught up with much of season 3 of Lost via the site, and the video is the best I’ve seen for streaming HD. This, along with the fact that it’s lined up an impressive range of content, should give the site a chance at taking on YouTube.

Hulu has turned out to be a challenger to YouTube, rapidly becoming one of the top video destinations, and featuring advertiser-friendly content. 

2009 is shaping up to be an epic Internet video battle between user generated content and mainstream video.