Google extends its lead in online video

DIGITAL: Viacom, Fox Interactive market share falls; Hulu's steady

By Danny King -- Video Business, 9/28/2009

SEPT. 28 | DIGITAL: Google Web sites, including YouTube, extended their online video popularity as companies such as Viacom, Microsoft and Fox Interactive saw their Web video market share fall over the past couple months.

About 40% of August’s online videos were streamed from Google sites, up from 39% in June, ComScore said in a report today. With YouTube representing all but 1% of its online videos, Google streamed its 10 billionth video last month, while its 25.4 million videos streamed marked a 30% jump from June, according to ComScore.

YouTube has been steadily gaining viewers since April, when the company said it would start offering free full-length movies and TV shows on its site after it reached deals with content providers such as Sony, Lionsgate and Starz.

Meanwhile, Microsoft, Fox Interactive and Hulu, the long-form video site launched last year by News Corp. and NBC Universal, each accounted for about 2% of online videos shown last month, ComScore said. While Hulu’s market share remained steady, Viacom’s and Fox Interactive’s both fell from about 4% in June, according to ComScore.

Overall, U.S. online video sites attracted 161.1 million unique viewers last month, up 2.5% from June, while the duration of the typical online video, at 3.7 minutes, was the same as June.