Now, Podcasting News is reporting about a survey from InStat that says full mass adoption of Internet Video (which to me means that it needs to be easy and on the TV, not the computer) is coming within four years.  According to InStat:

• Over 40% of young adult US households view Internet video on the TV at least once per month.
• Revenue from Web-to-TV streaming services will grow to $2.9 billion in 2013.
• Within five years, the number of US broadband households viewing Web-to-TV content will grow to 24 million.

I actually think we’re going to get that magic box sooner than four or five years from now.  While it may be a “chicken or the egg” thing, I think that box will be available in the next year or two, and full mass adoption will come soon after that.  When that day comes, the cable and satellite TV companies will have series reason to be worried, as I imagine a lot of people will no longer feel the need to pay $50-$75 per month for content that’s already available for free via the web.

YouTube led the Internet video portals, accounting for 49% of the incremental gain in December videos viewed versus the previous month.

In December, Google sites ranked as the top U.S. “video property,” with 5.9 billion videos viewed (41% online video market share), thanks to YouTube.com, which accounted for more than 99 percent of all videos viewed at the property.

Fox Interactive Media ranked a distant second with 445 million videos (3.1%), followed closely by Yahoo! sites with 330 million (2.3%) and Viacom Digital with 291 million (2.0%).

Hulu continued its growth trajectory, climbing 6 percent over its November viewing numbers, to 241 million videos viewed.

Despite ranking fifth among video properties for number of videos viewed in December, it should be noted that Hulu scored the longest average duration for individuals’ online video viewing, just over 10 minutes.

What does this mean?  Well … it means that people are watching a lot of web videos.  More significantly, it means web video watching is becoming mainstream.  It’s still not a primary way to get video entertainment, but we’re not terribly far away from that day.  And, if your business isn’t using social media like web video and podcasting, it should be.

Image courtesy The New York Times.

The first video tells the story of Jamaal Williams, a former Virginia Union University football player and patient at Sheltering Arms. After a stroke, Mr. Williams was unable to speak or move half of his body.

The second video tells the story of how disabled golfers are continuing to enjoy their sport, and looks at some of the tools they can use.

These two videos were produced by EAF Communications, owned by Eric Futterman.  He did a great job on both!

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Time has announced its top 10 viral videos of 2008.  Here’s a look at the list:

1. Where the Hell is Matt? (2008)
2. Western Spaghetti by PES
3. Christian the Lion
4. Hamster On A Piano (Eating Popcorn)
5. Barack The Vote – Obama Loses Election
6. Super Mario Rescues The Princess: Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade
7. The Onion: Pretend You Give A Sh*t About The Election
8. Star Wars according to a 3 year old
9. You Can Vote However You Like
10. MadTv No Frills Airlines

Would YOU expect to be interested in a web video from a linen company?  I wouldn’t.  But, with some creativity and smart thinking, this company has found something that they do on a regular basis (fold linens) that they can teach via web video.  The tactic is working, and the video is spreading virally.  Holiday entertainers would likely find this information fun and useful.  The above video is actually the first in a series.  The second teaches you to fold in the shape of a candlestick.  Bravo to them!