Web video attracting broad band of users |
| News created: 4. juli 2007 15:36 |
In March, seven of every 10 Internet users in the U.S. streamed at least one video online, with the average "streamer" viewing 55 videos during the month, according to digital measurement service comScore.
Such audience statistics clearly announce the arrival of online video as a mass medium worthy of attention, according to observers. And it is why media and entertainment giants are pushing into the Internet video space aggressively these days.
For example, CBS said in April that it will partner with AOL, Microsoft Corp., Comcast Corp., Joost and others to distribute its videos all over the Web. Shortly thereafter, NBC Universal partnered with News Corp., CNET Networks, Comcast Corp. and others to do likewise.
The 126.6 million U.S. streamers in March, according to comScore, each watched an average 145 minutes of online video during the month.
The biggest beneficiary was Google Inc., whose sites streamed 1.2 billion videos out of the total 7 billion streamed by Americans in March, or 16.7% of all online videos initiated, comScore says. Credit Google's $1.65 billion acquisition of YouTube for the vast majority (1.1 billion) of those.
In second place were sites owned by Yahoo Inc., which streamed 434 million videos, followed by News Corp.'s Fox Interactive Media (421 million), Viacom Digital (260 million) and the Time Warner network (222 million).
Walt Disney Co. sites operated by Disney Online, ABC.com and ESPN streamed 237 million videos. ComScore separates them, which is why Disney isn't No. 5 on the list of biggest providers.
Now that videos on computer screens are a mass medium, some are banking that broadband content on TV screens will be the next big thing. |
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