With significant growth in the Chinese market, the forecasts for User-Generated Video use and revenue have shifted upward since last year, reports In-Stat. And with expectations of higher quality content and increasing file size maximums, the demands on bandwidth will likely continue to grow at a faster rate than the number of files/videos served, the high-tech market research firm says.

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

• Total worldwide UGV revenue is expected to eclipse US$1.19 billion by 2012.
• 160 billion UGV served videos are forecasted for 2012.
• Individuals who use mobile phones to participate in online video sites are most likely to contribute to the market.

StumbleUpon announces the addition of six new content providers to StumbleVideo, including: College Humor, Funny or Die, Vimeo, Dailymotion, veoh.com and vbs.tv. These six new sites are added to StumbleUpon's current list of content providers including YouTube, Google, MySpace and Metacafe.

Launched in December 2006, StumbleVideo discovers videos based on your interests, learns what you like and brings you more. Each video on StumbleVideo has been discovered and rated by StumbleUpon's fast growing community of 5 million users.

PBS has chosen thePlatform to power its new online video initiative that will significantly increase the amount of PBS video available on both pbs.org and local PBS station web sites. PBS will use thePlatform, to publish and manage its national broadband video programming on its web sites, including pbs.org, pbskids.org, pbsparents.org, and pbsteachers.org. The agreement also allows PBS to enable online video distribution of national programming to PBS member stations and their respective Web sites. In addition, local PBS stations will have access to thePlatform's publishing system and video player technology to publish locally-produced content to their individual Web sites and to make it available to other local PBS stations.

DivX and Revision3 announce an agreement that will bring Revision3’s hit online shows to television viewers through the DivX Connected platform. The agreement will enable consumers to easily access many of their favorite Revision3 channels like PixelPerfect and Diggnation on any DivX Connected device. Revision3 offers a number of online channels featuring compelling, original video content. Through DivX Connected, Revision3 will be able to extend the audience for these popular programs beyond the web and into the living room.

Aniboom has grown its network of branded internet channels through partnerships with five key online video platforms, bringing its animations and cartoons to an online audience of more than 140 million viewers. Aniboom content is now available online via Dailymotion, Metacafe, Veoh Networks, blip.TV and blinkx. The expansion of Aniboom’s online network follows the company’s massive success with the Aniboom-branded channel on YouTube, which has garnered more than 15 million views in its first eight months. The newly-increased online reach of Aniboom content is a boon for the company’s community of independent creators across the globe, who will see an enormous boost in the exposure given to their animations, the buzz they build for their careers and the revenues they share with the animation network.

Vusion announces its formal company launch, leaving behind its stealth-mode name of 'Jittr Networks'. Vusion will deliver the industry's first end-to-end online video distribution service capable of providing the scalability and reach to serve true HD and DVD quality video to 95 percent of all broadband consumers.

The high bandwidth fees and limited reach of current content delivery technologies has made streaming video a loss leader for even the most highly trafficked web properties. Vusion's technology has been designed to answer the great demand among media companies and content providers for an end-to-end service to efficiently monetize assets through the delivery of high-quality video over the standard Internet.

ClipBlast! unveils ClipBlast! Playbox, a detached, cross-platform viewer frame that can play video from sources across the Video Web. ClipBlast!’s patent-pending Playbox technology gives viewers a universal way to search, discover, watch and interact with video, while offering video content providers new audiences and new revenue opportunities.

ClipBlast! Playbox can be launched from a web page by clicking on text and image links. When launched, Playbox “floats” on top of the page, and can be dragged and positioned as the viewer chooses. As Playbox is launched, users can watch, save and send videos; expand to full screen; see other video recommendations; and continue to scroll through web page content while the video plays without ever leaving the site.

VancouverIAM.com is set to change the way internet TV and video journalism is created and the way Vancouverites interact with and view their city. VancouverIAM.com is a unique online platform and new destination for people who want to know what's going on in Vancouver. It provides Vancouverites with the tools and support to become video journalists, Internet TV and film producers, and active commentators on local politics and everyday issues about life in Vancouver. VancouverIAM.com is also providing specialized Internet TV channels to a range of local organizations that already include Vancouver Film School, Greenpeace Canada, Women in Film & Television Vancouver and the Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

Velocix announces the availability of its revolutionary new FREE Velocix Accelerator digital delivery service. The new service is aimed at the growing and vibrant community of entrepreneurs and new start-up ventures, as well as larger organizations looking to distribute rich media such as video, music, games and software on-line. To be successful, these ventures need help from a global digital delivery partner to ensure that their website visitors receive a high quality consumer experience when downloading content, viewing videos or simply browsing web pages from anywhere in the world.

The new offering includes a 500GB per month delivery allowance for file download, video progressive streaming and website acceleration services all provided at no charge.

The CNN Digital Network posted yet another record-breaking month in March as it ranked No. 1 in total minutes among all News and Information properties for the 11th month in a row, ranking ahead of Internet stalwarts Wikipedia, Yahoo! News, MSNBC Digital Network and Weather Channel. CNN.com last month also set new records for the network in regards to online video streams served and mobile news usage.

According to Nielsen Online, CNN Digital Network generated 1.4 billion gross usage minutes in March, a 46 percent increase over last year, and maintained the network’s highest monthly audience in its 13-year history with 37.2 million unique visitors.

During the month, CNN.com served more than 116 million video streams, including nearly 4 million live streams served from CNN.com Live, the network’s live, multi-stream video service. The total monthly video streams served is a new record for for CNN.com, besting the 110 million served the previous month.

Orange France launched its Web TV portal, giving all ISPs customers access to channels on their computers. Their line-up of channels are: VOD barker channel, France 2, France 3, Orange Sport, France 5, BBC World, Poker Channel, Direct8, France 24, Demain, Liberty TV, Fashion TV, LCP- PS, France 4, BFM TV, I Télé, Trace TV, TV 8 Mont Blanc, Art Channel and France O.

The service can be accessed through the "guide tv" of Orange.fr and is only available to customers of Orange's broadband internet with speeds of 512kbps or greater.

TidalTV has partnered with NBC News and TV Guide Network to feature each provider’s programming on the TidalTV website, which will offer consumers free and instant access to professionally produced online video programming via a streaming, browser-based platform.

"Now more than ever, NBC News is so much more than a television news operation – we are a news and information content provider," said NBC News President Steve Capus. "With partnerships like this one, we are reaching more people in more ways. It’s an incredibly exciting time in our business, and we are thrilled to be working with TidalTV."

Tommy Hilfiger continues to bring music and fashion together with the global launch of TommyTV, an online evolution of the Hilfiger Sessions music series, staged in creative collaboration with Sony BMG Europe, that brings the excitement of live music to audiences around the globe.

TommyTV, which goes live today, builds on the existing success of The Hilfiger Sessions, a series of established and successful music events. The Hilfiger Sessions feature high profile artists playing with new and upcoming talent in intimate gigs in cities around the world, with recent Sessions taking place in Madrid, Berlin and Amsterdam hosted by artists such as Wyclef Jean and Kelly Rowland.

The live recordings of The Hilfiger Sessions form the centrepiece of TommyTV, allowing music fans to enjoy exclusive content and experience the thrill of live musical performances via unprecented online video presentation. TommyTV features:

• Exclusive content from the global Hilfiger Sessions concerts.
• Exclusive artist interviews and backstage footage.
• The chance to discover new music talent or for new artists to be discovered through the Hilfiger Auditions.

comScore released its February 2008 data from the comScore Video Metrix service, indicating that U.S. Internet users viewed more than 10 billion online videos during the month, representing a 3-percent gain versus January (despite February being two days shorter) and a 66-percent gain versus February 2007.

Google Sites Extends Lead in Online Video Market Share

In February, Google Sites once again ranked as the top U.S. video property with nearly 3.6 billion videos viewed (35.4 percent share of all videos), gaining 1.1 share points versus the previous month. YouTube.com accounted for 96 percent of all videos viewed at Google Sites. Fox Interactive Media ranked second with 586 million videos (5.8 percent), followed by Yahoo! Sites with 293 million (2.9 percent) and Microsoft Sites with 293 million (2.9 percent).

Adobe announces the immediate availability of Adobe Media Player 1.0 software. An Adobe AIR application, this customizable, cross-platform media player provides exciting new ways for viewers to discover and interact with their favorite content, while offering revenue and brand-building opportunities for content publishers. Major television broadcasters and leading content publishers, including CBS, MTV Networks, Universal Music Group, PBS, CondéNet, and Scripps Networks have worked with Adobe to provide a broad range of television programming and entertaining video content to viewers. Additionally, Adobe announced Adobe TV, a network in Adobe Media Player with a series of shows that provides expert instruction and original series programming about Adobe products to the worldwide creative community. Adobe Media Player is available for immediate download at http://www.adobe.com/go/mp.