comScore released its December 2008 data from the comScore Video Metrix service showing that U.S. Internet users viewed a record 14.3 billion online videos during the month, representing an increase of 13 percent versus the previous month. YouTube led the growth charge, accounting for 49 percent of the incremental gain in videos viewed versus November.

Google Sites Adds to Lead in Video Market Share

Metacafe attracted more than 44 million unique monthly viewers worldwide in December, as recently reported by comScore Media Metrix. This represents a 54% year-over-year increase and 15% growth over the month of November.

Metacafe remains focused on two key initiatives launched in 2008.

Starting Wednesday, January 28th and continuing everyday leading up to Super Bowl Sunday, CBSSports.com will present Countdown to Kick-off, a series of exclusive online video segments shot on location in Tampa, FL. Countdown to Kick-off will be hosted by Jason Horowitz of CBSSports.com and Randy Cross, an NFL analyst for CBS Sports and 13-year NFL veteran who won three Super Bowl championships (1982, 1985 and 1989) with the San Francisco 49ers.

SPOX.com will adopt the Brightcove platform for online video content management and publishing advertising-supported video players across its Web properties. Beginning later this year, SPOX will use Brightcove to deliver exclusive video content and programming from professional sports leagues in Germany and around the world, including the Champions League, DFB Cup, Formula 1, Premier League, PGA and boxing. The content is provided by Premiere, the leading pay TV operator in Germany and Austria and SPOX investor.

Adobe introduced the Adobe Scene7 eVideo Streaming Solution, a new addition to the Scene7 hosted rich media publishing platform. The new offering leverages ubiquitous Adobe Flash Platform technologies, enabling users to easily upload, transcode, edit, manage and stream content on the Web. Designed for eCommerce and multi-channel marketing companies, the new Adobe Scene7 eVideo Streaming Solution is ideal for producing online product demonstrations, advertising, training and more. It will be available as part of Scene7 Enterprise Unlimited Edition or as an add-on module to the standard Scene7 Enterprise Edition.

Veoh launches Veoh Video Compass, a new browser add-on that transforms Web video from an entertainment-centric activity into an indispensable tool that enhances everything users do online -- whether they’re searching, shopping, finding a date or catching up on the latest news.

Yesterday, as president elect Barack Obama was being sworn in as the 44th President of the U.S., millions watched the event unfold via an online video stream. CNN.com has reported 21.3 million online video stream requests during a nine hour period and a peak of 1.3 million simultaneous streams. Akamai, the content delivery network, claims to have handled more than 7.7 million simultaneous streams to many major media websites. These statistics surpassed the previous record highs set during Election Day 2008.

Metacafe strengthens its position as the leading independent online video site in the United States, attracting more than 11 million unique U.S. viewers, as reported in the recently released comScore Media Metrix data. This represents a greater than 60% increase since January of 2008 and a 20% increase over the month of November, making Metacafe one of the country’s fastest-growing video sites.

comScore released its November 2008 data from the comScore Video Metrix service showing that U.S. Internet users viewed 12.7 billion online videos during the month, representing an increase of 34 percent versus year ago.

In November, Google Sites once again ranked as the top U.S. video property with nearly 5.1 billion videos viewed (representing a 40 percent share of all videos viewed), with YouTube.com accounting for more than 98 percent of all videos viewed at the property. Fox Interactive Media ranked second with 439 million videos (3.5 percent), followed by Viacom Digital with 325 million (2.6 percent) and Yahoo! Sites with 304 million (2.4 percent). On the heels of a surge in viewership in October, Hulu retained its #6 position with 227 million videos viewed (1.8 percent).

Nielsen Online announces that 65 percent of online video viewers stream content between 9am - 5pm Monday through Friday, compared to 51 percent of online video viewers who log on between 6am - 8pm on weekends (see Table 1). With a 96 percent broadband penetration among at work Web visitors in October and many employees spending nearly eight hours a day at their computers, workdays are prime time for online video viewing.

While today’s consumer is most likely to watch online video on the PC screen, over time more and more consumers will watch over-the-top video delivered to the living room, according a new study from ABI Research. This continued trend towards TV-viewed online video will help drive overall adoption, as the number of online video viewers grows from 563 million at the end of 2008 to 941 million by 2013.

comScore releases its October 2008 data from the comScore Video Metrix service, reporting that U.S. Internet users viewed 13.5 billion online videos during the month, representing an increase of 45 percent versus year ago.

Brightcove announces the formation of the Brightcove Alliance, a global ecosystem of leading technology and distribution partners who have integrated with the Brightcove online video platform, as well as solution providers building customer websites and video applications using Brightcove. Through the Brightcove Alliance, organizations worldwide have access to a broad range of expert partners, pre-integrated technologies and services to support online video initiatives of any size and scope in every market.

KIT digital has entered into a distribution agreement with WebAlive, owner of "WebCommunity," the first 'plug-and-play' social networking platform for businesses. The WebCommunity module enhances "VX," KIT digital's existing IP video platform. The integrated software platform allows one customer to quickly deploy thousands of KIT VX video players within "community" areas of individual websites. As a result of this alliance, KIT digital is able to better help its clients leverage online trends in social networking, self-publishing and community-building -- all in the context of IP-based video.

Metacafe launches the Metacafe Music Channel. The channel features established artists and up-and-coming acts in the genres of Pop, Rock, R&B, Hip Hop, Country and Latin. Metacafe’s more than 38 million unique monthly viewers1 are now invited to watch, comment on and share their favorite music videos.

Music videos are among the most popular online video content, with 36 percent of respondents to this year’s Magid Media Futures study reporting that they frequently watch music videos online – only comedy videos, with 37 percent reporting watching frequently, proved more popular.