Underscoring the importance of online video as a marketing tool for retailers, 62% of U.S. adult Internet users watch videos on YouTube and other video-sharing web sites, up from 33% in late 2006, the Pew Research Center says in a recent report.

The report also notes that viewing content on video-sharing sites has grown most sharply among younger Internet users since last year:

* Among Internet users 18 to 29 years old, 89% watch videos on video-sharing sites, up from 72% in 2008.
* Among Internet users 30 to 49 years old, 67% view content on video-sharing sites, up from 58% in 2008.
* Among Internet users 50 to 64 years old, 41% view content on video-sharing sites, up from 34% in 2008.
* Among Internet uses 65 and older, 27% view content on video-sharing sites, up from 19% in 2008.

The report, The Audience for Online Video-Sharing Shoots Up, is based on a survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project conducted from March 26 to April 29.

The report also notes that, among people who access the Internet with wireless devices, 71% visit video-sharing sites, compared to 38% of people who don’t access the web with wireless devices.

Internet live broadcasting traffic in the U.S. hit a record peak this week with the President Obama’s speech. Millions of cubicle employees watched (or tried to) online video of the inauguration ceremonies. It was the most-viewed live video event in Internet history.

CNN.com fed 1.3 million live streams simultaneously. Over the nine-hours ceremony, CNN provided more than 21.3 million video stream. During the Election Day, it had ‘only’ 5.3 million streams.

CDN provider Akamai worked with New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Viacom and other outlets, reported a record-breaking day, feeding up seven million video streams at one time.

Despite these impressive raw figures, many people were unable to access video, and many Websites –we tried CNN, NYT, ABC, NBC- had trouble keeping up the overwhelming demand. Those frustrated users turn to old television to watch the speech.

CNN posted a note to visitors saying they were in line to receive a working stream.

However, CNN and other media explained that the viewing troubles may have been more a result of the limited Internet capacity coming to offices and houses, rather than a lack of overall bandwidth from the media companies.

The viewing troubles may have been more a result of the limited Internet capacity coming to offices and houses, rather than a lack of overall bandwidth from the media companies, according to Mr. Woodcock.

“The United States continues to suffer from less-than-robust bandwidth, due to inadequate government attention and limited competition between Internet service providers like AT&T and Comcast”, said an analyst in the New York Times. President Obama has acknowledged the problem.

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