Even as rumors swirl that some of Hulu's backers may walk away from the streaming video service, the company is enjoying stronger momentum with consumers than at any point in its history. Today at the Hulu Upfront presentation in New York City, it was revealed that in Q1 of 2013, users streamed over one billion videos — the first time Hulu has broken that number in a single quarter. That usage was undoubtedly driven in large part by Hulu Plus; the company says it's now recruited over four million premium subscribers. Not only did the number of paying Hulu users double in 2012, but Q1 shows an impressive surge of new growth.

When it comes to where people are streaming Hulu's movies and TV shows, it seems most still favor PCs and laptops. After being "nonexistent" two years ago, mobile activity is trending upwards however. The company expects it will account for about 15 percent of total viewership in 2013 - 2014. 29 percent of Hulu consumption occurs in the living room. Hulu also touted strong user engagement during the upfront; the ad-supported site typically keeps users around for 45 minutes at a time, news we'd expect will be welcomed by advertisers.

Of course Hulu also made mention of its continued push into original programming. Two new shows were announced (Quick Draw and East Los High), joining the nine previously announced for debut this summer. We're not convinced that Hulu has its own House of Cards quite yet, but the company clearly understands the value of establishing its own reputation as a producer of quality content.