The leading internet researcher, comScore, Inc. on Tuesday (April 21, 2009) released its study on the Canadian online video market, based on February 2009 comScore Video Metrix data. The comScore study states that 21 million Canadians viewed more than 3.1 billion videos online during the month, and the average Canadian online video viewer spent 10 hours viewing videos in February, up 53 percent from their average viewing time last year.

Bryan Segal, vice president of sales, comScore Canada, said, “Canada’s high broadband penetration and tech savvy Internet users make it an optimal environment for online video to flourish. The combined forces of reach, high engagement and ‘sight, sound and motion’ make online video a particularly attractive brand-building vehicle for online advertisers.”

According to comScore study, Google Sites led as the most popular video destination in February with more than 1.6 billion videos viewed (52 percent share of all videos), and YouTube.com accounting for nearly 99 percent of videos viewed at the property. Microsoft Sites ranked as the second most popular video destination with 55.6 million videos viewed (1.8 percent share), followed by Yahoo! Sites with 45.7 million videos (1.5 percent share). 

The comScore study articulates that more than 21 million Canadian viewers, or 88 percent of the total Canadian Internet population, watched an average of 147 videos per viewer in February. Google Sites attracted the most viewers with 18.2 million watching an average of 89 videos per viewer during the month. Microsoft Sites drew 7.1 million viewers, while Facebook ranked third with 5.8 million viewers.

The other important findings of the comScore study include—
—The average online video was 4.1 minutes in length, up nearly 25 percent from the previous year’s 3.3 minute average. 
—More than 1.6 billion videos were viewed by 18 million viewers on YouTube.com in February, representing nearly 90 videos per viewer.
—Nearly 88 percent of the total Canadian Web population viewed online video in February, the highest penetration of the five countries currently reported by comScore Video Metrix (France 82 percent, Germany 82 percent, U.K. 81 percent, U.S. 76 percent).
—The average online video viewer in Canada watched 605 minutes of video in the month, the largest amount of time of the five countries reported by comScore Video Metrix (U.K. 540 minutes, Germany 466 minutes, France 390 minutes, U.S. 312 minutes).