Vidmeter, a video stats clearinghouse that covers online services like YouTube, found that only 9% of YouTube’s videos were removed for copyright violations and those videos accounted for 6% of total views. Viacom’s videos — Comedy Central stuff included — made up 2% of those videos. Most of the removed Viacom videos were music videos from MTV, not Jon Stewart’s hilarity.
Disney’s most popular removed video? “USC Cheerleader extreme wedgie.”
So what does that tell us about online video? It’s mostly homegrown, it’s mostly short, and its mostly viral. Broadcasters can cry wolf all they want, but they are definitely noticing that as folks head for the small screen their business model is rapidly waning. Who wants to wait 6 months for the next episode of “Lost” (This week, Jack and Ben play a rousing game of checkers… and Ben tell Jack one tiny detail about J.J. Abram’s lurching LSD fever dream) when they can watch “USC Cheerleader extreme wedgie.” This is partially why I never wanted to do a pod- or videocast for CG or any of the other sites I’ve worked for: no one has the time or the patience to sit through an hour of mumbling to get one nugget of information.
Vidmeter: Viacom Videos Were Only 2% of YouTube Views [InternetOutsider]