Hitwise has revealed that UK Internet traffic to broadband video websites (e.g. BBC iPlayer, YouTube etc.) has increased by 40.7% over the last 12 months. During February 2009, 1 in every 35 UK Internet visits went to a specialist Video website, up from 1 in every 50 in February 2008.



YouTube remains the most popular video site in the UK, picking up a 62.9% share of the whole market during February 2009. The BBC's iPlayer is the second most visited, attracting 11.2% of visits for the same period. This result is mirrored by similar findings from comScore (here).

Top 10 Video websites - February 2009:
1. YouTube (www.youtube.com, 62.9%)
2. BBC iPlayer (www.bbc.co.uk/iPlayer, 11.2%)
3. Google Video (video.google.com, 2.0%)
4. MegaVideo (www.megavideo.com, 1.5%)
5. MSN Video (video.msn.com, 1.4%)
6. Google Video UK (video.google.co.uk, 1.3%)
7. Channel 4 TV (www.channel4.com/video, 1.3%)
8. MetaCafe (www.metacafe.com, 1.2%)
9. Vuze (www.vuze.com, 1.2%),
10. Daily Motion (www.dailymotion.com, 1.1%)

Interesting the BBC's iPlayer site was also the 22nd most popular website in the UK during February 2009. Naturally such growth can put a strain on UK ISPs and consumers should be keeping a close eye on their usage allowances and paying attention to any fair usage policies.