In case you didn’t see the trend after the Online Publishers’ Association said Internet video consumption is exploding, comScore said that the Internet video viewing is exploding, or the fact that big media is figuring out that Internet tv is profitable, Magid Media Futures (MMF) is reporting a huge growth in the popularity for Americans of viewing videos over the Internet.

According to MMF’s research, daily usage of online video rose by 56 percent over the last year. In 2006, 9 percent of 12- to 64-year-old Americans who used the Internet reported using online video daily. Today, this number has risen to 14 percent.

Weekly usage of online video has also risen over the last year. Now, a majority of online Americans 12 to 64 are using online video once a week or more. In 2006, this number was 44 percent; now it is 52 percent.

Other highlights:

• Among young adult males 18 to 24, 35 percent report using online video at least once a day, and 80 percent report watching online video at least once a week. In all age-groups, males are more regular viewers of online video.
• Among females 18 to 24, weekly use of online video is 53 percent (versus the 80% for males). The population that has the lowest rate of weekly online video usage is older women. Among the group of females 55 to 64 years old, 39 percent report using online video weekly.
• News stories are reported by consumers as the most frequently viewed video they watch regularly on the Internet. Over a third of online Americans 12 to 64 watch online video news stories regularly.
• Video content described as jokes/bloopers, weather, and movie previews are tied for second most regularly viewed video content.
• Closely following these is user-generated content.

“Clearly the use of online video demonstrates that the Internet has become a mass platform for distributing video content to a wide cross section of Americans,” said Magid’s Mike Vorhaus.

“The breadth of content viewed by consumers regularly online is amazing. This is not just short clips on YouTube. Consumers are watching news stories, movie previews, clips from TV shows, and, in some cases, even full-length TV shows and movies,” Vorhaus said. “The breadth of content online today is growing and consumers are using it,” Vorhaus concluded.

This study was conducted with 1,864 people, of whom 1,632 are between the ages of 18 and 64, and 232 are between the ages of 12 and 17. The study evaluates attitudes and behaviors of media and entertainment consumers. The data was collected March 20 through March 28, 2007.