comScore and Media Contacts showcased the results of a proprietary study of the online video audience at a Video Symposium in New York yesterday. The research was designed to understand the consumption habits and mindsets of Internet video users as they relate to online video, TV, and advertising and content across both media. The results revealed differences in orders of magnitude: the heaviest viewers (top 20 percent of viewers) averaged 841 minutes of online viewing per month, while moderate viewers (next 30 percent) averaged 77 minutes, and the lightest viewers (bottom 50 percent) watched just 6 minutes each.

Nielsen Online released its VideoCensus the first and only syndicated online video measurement service to combine patented panel and server research methodologies. Early findings reveal differences in how men and women consume video content and that online there is a new primetime.

"The growth projections for both online video consumption and video advertising revenue are phenomenal, and the market requires an innovative approach to measurement. The driving force behind the development of VideoCensus was the unanimous call from our clients to deliver the most relevant and accurate dataset possible," said Dave Osborn, vice president, video measurement and media products, Nielsen Online. "With this release, we've taken a huge step in addressing the market's need to harmonize panel- and server-based metrics and we are delighted by the accolades of major industry players who are supporting our forward thinking approach," he continued.

Inuk Networks announces that 40,000 people are now receiving digital television through the company’s Freewire TV IPTV service. The current size of the Freewire TV customer-base means the company now has more users than any other true IPTV service provider in the UK and more than doubles the total number of UK viewers who receive linear television using IPTV as the delivery mechanism.

Freewire TV is supplied free at the point of entry to students with access to the JANET high speed network which connects all UK universities. Since September 2007, Inuk has successfully rolled out its Freewire TV service to more than 100,000 student bedrooms at over forty universities around the UK. Universities wanting to offer their on-campus students access to multiple channels of digital television can implement the Freewire service with very little effort or cost and without having to install any additional capital equipment.

Velocix's Video solution is being used to deliver the world’s largest on-line collection of south Asian films. Bollywood.tv is the first global movies-on-demand service for Asian film with a library that includes classic and cult movies not available elsewhere on the web, or TV and DVD.

Velocix Video allows Bollywood.tv’s viewers to watch films at broadcast quality in Windows Media format, streamed or downloaded directly to their PCs. More than 1,900 new and back catalog films are exclusively available on-line, including movies in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Marathi and Bengali as well as a range of exclusive Pakistani dramas, and music from genres as diverse as pop, classical and Sufi.

A net-neutrality war is stirring in Washington as broadband companies sharpen their spears. Recent complaints against Comcast deliberately slowing consumers Internet connections has prompted Washington to look at broadband providers favoring some Internet traffic over others. Net neutrality has been brought to the foreground partly because of online video downloads causing companies to change their pricing models.

This has also lead to Time-Warner recently announcing a trial of a capacity-based pricing plan in Texas. "It's not set up to be a punishment of people's responsible Internet usage," Time Warner spokesman Alex Dudley said. "This is an attempt to get the high-end users to think differently about how they consume their Internet usage."

Online video views delivered through professionally branded sites increased 50.3% in 2007 to 33.5 billion, according to a research study published by AccuStream iMedia Research.

Online Video 2007 – 2011: Views, Category Share and Usage Analytics is a site, brand, network and aggregator analysis of views delivered in 2007, augmented by usage numbers going back to 1998, and rigorous forward-looking, trend-based forecasts.

Entertainment captured a 26.8% share of cumulative views in 2007, and replaced music as the top category inside professional (non UGV) environments.

Wavexpress to feature five of ON Networks’ entertaining and engaging TV shows in high-definition in its free Internet television application TVTonic.

The new channels being added to TVTonic’s lineup include:

• Golf Tips with Joe Beck: Golf enthusiasts looking for expert advice on improving their game need look no further. Golf Tips debuts as a virtual driving range, offering viewers direct access to the best golf techniques available, delivered by seasoned PGA professional Joe Beck.
• On Dating: Dating coach Andrea Syrtash helps viewers navigate the sometimes treacherous terrain of online romance. Each episode serves as a 3-8 minute primer on how to date in the 21st century, offering viewers advice on topics ranging from how to write the perfect profile to selecting the site that’s best for you.

More after the jump.

Mobile TV use is set to surge due to strong consumer demand, with the service ranked as the number one application users want on their phone, according to a consumer behaviour study conducted by Ericsson and the #1 international news broadcaster, CNN. The results show more than a third (34%) of respondents ranking TV as the most in-demand application and almost half (44%) of the respondents poised to adopt mobile TV in the next two years.

Key findings also revealed that photo and video messaging look to be set for wide-scale adoption as consumer pricing and functionality improves. 57% of respondents use photo technology to send and receive images on a monthly basis, making it the most popular activity. This trend is mirrored by popularity of CNN International's user-generated content service iReport, which launched in 2006. The service garnered 50,000 submissions, including mobile phone footage and images, from 189 countries worldwide in its first twelve months, driving the worldwide trend for 'citizen journalism' and giving audiences a deeper connection to network news.

Yahoo! has acquired Maven Networks to expand state-of-the-art consumer video and advertising experiences on Yahoo!.com and Yahoo!’s network of leading premium video publishers across the web. Under the terms of the agreement, Yahoo! acquired Maven Networks for approximately $160 million.

Yahoo! and Maven will be able to offer publishers a full portfolio of technology and media solutions. Yahoo! already has the largest library of professionally produced legally licensed video content and has video advertising relationships with over 75% of the top TV advertisers. Additionally, Yahoo! has advertising relationships with a growing number of premium publishers including eBay, Comcast, Newspaper Consortium, Forbes.com and others. Maven’s platform is currently used to manage, distribute and monetize premium online video content for over 30 major media companies, including Fox News, Sony BMG, CBS Sports, Hearst, Gannett, Scripps Networks, and the Financial Times as well as hundreds of their affiliates. Together they represent one of the most robust video platforms in the industry.

Internet World announces its speaker line up for 2008, including representatives from some of the biggest brands in the business.

Speakers at this year’s event will include BBC Worldwide’s Head of Mobile Peter Mercier, Managing Director of BBC.com Kym Niblock, Senior Vice President of MySpace.com Travis Katz, Annelies van den Belt, Head of ITV Broadband and Chris Hogg, Director of Marketing for Intel.

Internet World will take place at Earls Court London 29th April – 1st May 2008. This year’s exhibition builds on last year’s award winning event which attracted representatives from some of the biggest names in world business – Procter & Gamble, General Motors, GlaxoSmithKline, Reuters and eBay.

Valtech has chosen Ericsson's IPTV solution. Using Ericsson's IPTV technology, Valtech will be able to provide new and value-added television services to its customers. The Ericsson solution consists of next-generation broadband access, multi-service edge routers, world-leading video compression, IPTV middleware, and content distribution platforms. The next-generation broadband infrastructure makes it much easier to combine data, voice and video services.

The solution will enable Valtech to offer a wide range of standard, high-definition broadcast channels and interactive services. Ericsson's IPTV solution will bring personalized and interactive multimedia services that are beyond today's broadcast-TV experience.

A survey of American residents has shown that IPTV has a way to go before consumers understand what it is or the associated benefits beyond the value of videos on YouTube. The survey, conducted in late 2007 in New York City, asked 225 residents about their attitudes and knowledge of IPTV. More than half (54%) of respondents were not familiar with the term ‘IPTV’ or ‘web-based TV’, and only a fifth (20%) had seen an IPTV show or program that was not YouTube, though a huge majority (92%) had watched videos on YouTube.

Tele2 selects Digital Fountain’s ToughStream Solution to further improve their IPTV service. After successful trials, ToughStream is now live and operational on Tele2’s IPTV network, providing protection against “glitches,” or visible errors that naturally occur when delivering real-time media over IP networks.

ToughStream is a software solution that eliminates video and audio degradation caused by packet loss, latency or out-of-order delivery. These effects are normal and prevalent conditions on all IP networks because IP is, by design, a “best effort” delivery protocol. Because it is a software-based solution, ToughStream is highly configurable, and easy to deploy on any IPTV network. An extraordinarily scalable solution, ToughStream has negligible hardware requirements while providing high QoE including fast channel change times.

Research and Markets has announced the addition of "The End-to-End VOD Systems Market 2007 (Competitor Focus)" to their offering.

The communications environment is evolving as telecoms gain traction into the broadcast space through IPTV provision in an effort to remain competitive. Video on-demand is proving as a key differentiator for IPTV operators allowing for consumers to access a library of content at anytime. This Decision Matrix addresses some of the key players in the IPTV VOD solution provider space.

comScore released its December 2007 data from the comScore Video Metrix service, which reaches beyond simple site visitation to measure actual online video viewing behavior. The December 2007 report revealed that U.S. Internet users watched more than 10 billion videos online during the month, representing the single heaviest month for online video consumption since comScore initiated its tracking service. Top-ranked video property Google Sites saw substantial growth and extended its video market share gains, now accounting for nearly one out of every three videos viewed online.