Yahoo Video gains, YouTube crosses 5.3 billion streams
Yahoo Video streams surged 56 percent and unique users grew 35 percent in September, according to Nielsen Online.
Post updated 11:45 AM PST
Beet.TV has the scoop on Nielsen Online's tracking of video streams for September 2008. Yahoo Video streams surged 56 percent and unique users grew 35 percent month over month.
The month of September was also good for Google's YouTube, which had 12 percent growth in streams. Fox Interactive, MSN/Windows Live and Nickelodeon all had negative growth from August to September 2008, according to Nielsen Online.
It's unclear why Yahoo Video saw such a dramatic increase compared to other sites in September. CNET News has call into the company and Nielsen to check this out.
Update: A Yahoo spokesperson attributed the growth to contextual placement of the videos and traffic due to major news events. Yahoo had record traffic for Yahoo Finance and Yahoo News in September 2008.It would seem that sites with video related to the economy and politics would show some growth in September. Given the frenzied October financial meltdown and Obama-McCain face-off, October should be a strong month for growth.
See also: Jimmy Pitaro, head of entertainment and sports at Yahoo, discusses his division's video strategy with Beet.TV.