comScore released a study of video streaming in the U.K. The study showed that 80 percent of the U.K. online population (age 15 or older who have accessed the Internet from either a home or a work computer), initiated a video stream in April 2007, compared to 76 percent in the U.S., 79 percent in France, and 70 percent in Germany.


The study also reported that the average U.K. streaming video viewer initiated 80 streams in April 2007, compared to 64 streams per streamer in France and 62 streams per streamer in Germany. By comparison the average streamer in the U.S. initiated 65 streams per streamer in April 2007.

In the U.K. streamers allocated 10 percent of their total time online to viewing video.

"With 8 out of 10 people initiating a stream in the U.K., streaming is clearly mainstream and one of the more popular things to do online -- up there with search, email and shopping," stated Bob Ivins, EVP and managing director of comScore Europe. "What is particularly striking is the fact that those consumers are accessing 16 to 18 streams more, per month, than their counterparts in the U.S., France or Germany, perhaps indicating that the U.K. is further along the adoption curve in enjoying streamed video."



The study also reported on the most popular streaming sites. Of the 1.98 billion streams that were initiated in the U.K. in April 2007, 38 percent or 608.1 million were initiated at Google Sites (which include YouTube.com). Rounding out the top 5 were Yahoo Sites, with 57.7 million streams, BBC Sites with 32.2 million streams, Fox Interactive Media with 26.1 million streams and Microsoft Sites with 17.3 million streams.