There is a new comScore report about online video.

Some highlights:

” U.S. Internet users viewed more than 10 billion online videos during the month, representing a 3-percent gain versus January (despite February being two days shorter) and a 66-percent gain versus February 2007.”

“In February, Google Sites once again ranked as the top U.S. video property with nearly 3.6 billion videos viewed (35.4 percent share of all videos), gaining 1.1 share points versus the previous month. YouTube.com accounted for 96 percent of all videos viewed at Google Sites.”

“Nearly 135 million U.S. Internet users spent an average of 204 minutes per person viewing online video in February.”

And, if you are still not sure you MUST have a video strategy consider:

Other notable findings from February 2008 include:

* 72.8 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video.
* 80.4 million viewers watched 3.42 billion videos on YouTube.com (42.6 videos per viewer).
* 50.2 million viewers watched 539 million videos on MySpace.com (10.7 videos per viewer).
* The average online video duration was 2.7 minutes.
* The average online video viewer consumed 75 videos.

Link [comScore Press Release]

Hat Tip [Jeremy Liew]

Our world has been dominated by the 4:3 square box and it’s time for a change.

As Assistant Editor here at See3, our clients often ask me: why shoot widescreen? The term “widescreen” can also be called “16:9″ or “anamorphic“. The history behind widescreen is that it was originally adapted by Hollywood to give them a one-up on TV when it was first introduced. The reason you should use widescreen is simple: it gives you a larger view of what was filmed. More picture, more action in the frame, more for the viewer to enjoy. I think of it as taking blinders off a horse.

YouTube and other video hosting websites still squish 16:9 footage into a 4:3 frame, and put black frames on the footage, but this is changing. Newer websites have caught on and now play 16:9 footage in a 16:9 player. This has started to put the nail in the coffin of 4:3 and it won’t be long before all websites follow suit. As we usher in HD broadcast and HD footage, the world is going widescreen. When you shoot your next video, don’t get stuck in a box. Go wide.