SpectatorBytes

ComScore reported that the average online video viewer watched 273 minutes (4.55 hours) of video per month in 2008.  This compares with 73 minutes of online video streaming per viewer in 2005. This is an increase of more than 3 hours per month. As a reminder, 2005 was the year AOL established a major milestone with its worldwide coverage of the Live 8 concerts.

Here are what I see as some of the key drivers of the growth in online video in 2008

- Users anointed YouTube as “the Google” for video (certainly short form). No other video aggregation platform enjoyed the same level of momentum as YouTube. This is not necessarily a measure of growth but also scale

- Hulu demonstrated that consumers are interested in watching long form professional content on the Web. This has prompted traditional video producers to increasingly looking for ways to make their content available on the Web. Some producers are more aggressive than others. However, the tide is turn in the favor of the Web.

- The mid and long tail of video advertising have also begun to rapidly grow. Robust tools for video publishers (CMS, video players, editing and distribution tools) have made it possible for the text-driven blog-o-sphere to become increasingly multimedia. So far, this phenomenon has been driven mainly by publishers trying to satisfy consumer demand. This transformation will accelerate as soon as a standard monetization engine emerges (the AdSense for video content). Publishers like Talking Points Memo showed the power of combining video and text during the election. TMZ.com has done the same in the celebrity arena (for some time now).

- The popularity of SNL and the Olympics on the Web showed that online video can expand audiences and extract greater value from hit shows and content clips. The professional sports leagues have begun to realize the “amplifying” value of the Web and are also making their content available to users. This is critical as sports content is a critical driver for the establishment of media platforms.

Now, we are likely to enter an era in which the monetization infrastructure need to be put in place to further stimulate the availability and use by publishers of videos on the Web.

If I missed any major catalysts in 2008 for online video, I would appreciate your feedback.