YouTube crosses the million user mark in January

In these recessionary times, people are apparently turning to the Internet for their entertainment needs. Internet users watched 14.8 billion online videos in January 2009, while YouTube surpassed 100 million viewers for the first time, according to data from market research firm comScore.

Google, which bought YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion, ranks as the most popular video provider in the US. Around 6.4 billion of its videos were viewed in January, reflecting 43 per cent of the online video market. YouTube logged just over 100 million unique viewers, with the average person watching about 62 videos over the course of the month for an average of 3.5 minutes. (See: Google closes $1.65 billion acquisition of YouTube)

Next on the list was Fox Interactive Media, which includes social networking site MySpace. People watched about 552 million videos on the site, for a 3.7 per cent market share. The company had 62 million unique viewers in January, with people watching an average of 9 videos on the site.

Yahoo rounded out the top three with 374 million videos viewed, 42 million unique viewers, and 2.5 per cent market share.

On average, about 77 per cent of people who use the Internet watch Web video, comScore said. The average person watched about 6 hours of online videos in January, up 15 per cent from December.

Hulu.com maintained its edge over the Turner Network and Disney with 250 million videos viewed and 24.4 million unique viewers. The site, a joint video partnership between Fox and NBC Universal, first jumped past Turner and Disney in October, when it had 235 million videos viewed.