Top 10 Online Broadcast TV Network Entertainment Programs* for December 2008 ranked by Unique Viewers (U.S.)

The rankings are based on broadcast networks that tag their online offerings. Hulu.com was excluded from the survey as it does not currently report VideoCensus data at the program level. Web sites included in the survey are: ABC.com, CBS Television, CWTV.com, Fox Broadcasting and NBC.com.

Watch a video from John Burbank, CEO, Nielsen Online

To read more about Nielsen’s VideoCensus, including additional rankings for top entertainment programs ranked by time spent online and information on our methodology, view the entire release here.

NBC.com, which grew 312% month-over-month, saw the largest September increase in video viewers, followed by FOX Broadcasting and ABC.com, with 165% and 105% growth, respectively, Nielsen Online reported Thursday.

“A combination of series and season premiers, political news and parodies, and coverage of the financial crisis all contributed to increased online video viewing for the television networks in September,” Jon Gibs, vice president, media analytics, Nielsen Online, noted. “Consumers are increasingly relying on the Web to catch up on content they missed when it aired on television and the networks are beginning to capitalize on this trend.”

Total video streams in a variety of entertainment categories also increased last month.

Overall, the number of unique viewers streaming video online increased 6% — from 117,916 viewers in August to 125,061 in September.  Meanwhile, total video streams increased 10% month-over-month — from 8.06 million in August to 8.89 million in September.

YouTube, Yahoo! and Fox Interactive Media were the top brands, ranked by video streams, during September.

View the full press release.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in TV Week, Media Post, and Biz Report.com.

View the press release.

Today, the likes of Netflix, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Veoh, and Hulu are betting it has.  Instead, they’re throwing their resources into developing a new video source: online streaming movies.

These new media titans may have the right idea, according to recent research by Nielsen that found online streaming video usage almost doubled in the U.S. between 2006 and 2007.  A separate survey conducted by Nielsen in 2007 found that 40% of respondents had streamed some type of video, while just over 10% had downloaded a full movie.

But while consumer generated media streaming has taken off online, movie content streaming accounts for only about 1% of all online streaming activity, according to Nielsen. 

But that trend may be changing fast, according to a new report by Nielsen PreView.  So far in 2008, movie content streaming has grown by leaps and bounds, outpacing the growth of streamed consumer generated media, the most popular streamed content, by a factor of eight.

Online video streamers are also an increasingly engaged lot, with more people streaming online movies for longer periods of time.  Between November 2007 and May 2008, those who streamed 30 minutes or more of online video grew by 4%, according to Nielsen. 

What’s trigging the growing popularity of online streaming video?  In part: broadcast TV content available for streaming online. 

Consumers who streamed more than 43 minutes of broadcast content during a recent seven-month period had the highest likelihood of being online movie content streamers, according to Nielsen’s report.

Read Nielsen PreView’s report.

Learn more about other recent Nielsen PreView studies on R-Ratings and 3-D films.