I received a pleasant surprise in my email today that I thought I would pass on to the AllThings.tv audience.

An industry colleague forwarded a press release over email to me from Rider Research (http://www.riderresearch.com), which publishes a weekly digital media newsletter. 

Rider recently produced a report called, “Video Vision 2007: A Survey of Web Sites Offering Video.”

Rider concluded that it would be a vast understatement to say that video on the Internet exploded in the last year. 

Apparently, the conclusion is based on a finding in the report that “the number of Web sites that offer entertainment and information videos increased in the last year from about 200 to over 300.”

I emphatically agree.  Video on the Internet HAS exploded.

The number of videos uploaded to the Internet every day continues to skyrocket at exponential rates.  Individuals and entities across the entire business spectrum (from the small entrepreneur to some of the largest Fortune 500 companies) continue to enter the business of delivering video on the Internet.

The .tv domain extension alone continues to become the extension of choice for companies seeking to launch their own videos on the Internet business. 
As I continued down the press release, I realized it was more of a pitch about the 350+ page “Video Vision” report that they are selling for $695. 

Apparently, the report details and analyzes over 300 such Web sites with:
- Details of available videos.
- Pricing models.
- Explanations of the technologies.
- Strategic alliances.

Check out the remainder of the press release dedicated to selling the report, if it interests you:

Videos—entertainment, sports, news and information—are flooding the Net, from first run movies and classic TV shows to user-generated, amateurish videos.

TV networks from the BBC to NBC, even local TV stations and magazines, offer shows online, either ad-supported or as for-pay downloads. Britain’s ITV says it will stream all its TV channels over the Internet.

Amazon and AOL joined Apple, CinemaNow, Movielink and Starz to sell movie and television show downloads.

Microsoft turned the Xbox 360 videogame console into a networked entertainment device, offering over 1,000 hours of downloadable movies and TV episodes from the major studios and network channels—in both standard- and high-definition. Sony is following with its PlayStation 3.

Apple TV lets consumers watch the movies and TV shows they downloaded from iTunes to their PC on their favorite TV set, even in another room.

Sites like YouTube and AddictingClips are good for a quick fix or a laugh. Blip.TV, Metacafe and the AOL Video site provide longer-length videos with higher production standards.

BitTorrent launched with content from major studios, using P2P technology to deliver large, high-quality video files faster than ever.

Netflix makes titles available for instant streaming for those who don’t want to wait even the day it takes for a DVD to arrive.

The start-up Joost burst onto the scene, promising the best of TV and the Internet in a TV-like experience that offers the social networking and community features of a Web 2.0 site.