Internet video viewing will grow massively this year, according to research from Accustream. Professional and “user-generated video” (UGV) views are expected to grow by 43.4% in 2008, following a 57.6% increase in 2007.

Other highlights of the research:

• Partner Channels on YouTube, for example, accounted for a 10.6% share of total video views in 2006 – 2007, forecast at 15.4% in 2008.
• Comedians/Directors captured 8.9% total viewing share on YouTube in 2006 – 2007 and forecast at 11.1% in 2008.
• Universal Music Group claimed the top channel partner position, with a 29.1% share, according to AccuStream.
• Combined, Partner Channels, Comedians and Directors made up 19.5% of total views on YouTube in 2006 – 2007, and forecast at 26.5% in 2008.

Their research also digs into the relative strengths of user generated vs professional video:

• Entertainment captured a combined 17.1 billion views, for a 33.1 share, with professional sites owning a 52.4% launch share, and UGV hosting networks the remaining 47.6%.
• Music video (including artist info, mash-ups, spoofs, tour videos etc. on UGV networks) captured 12.5 billion combined views, 55.6% owned by professionally managed sites and brands compared to 44.4% for UGV.
• News is almost completely dominated by professionally managed sites, with a 93.8% share.
• The Sports category remains largely the domain of professional, formal partner or syndication-powered websites, with an 80.7% share compared to 19.3% share for UGV networks. Sports on UGV networks typically include extreme events content and spectacular wipe-outs.