• by Wayne Friedman , November 21, 2011

Four major countries will see a collective 20% rise in online video revenues this year -- much of this coming from advertising-supported platforms.

U.K.-based Futuresource Consulting says revenues from the USA, UK, France and Germany will hit a total of $3 billion this year. Another study says revenues in the U.S. alone were on track to secure around $1.5 billion. In Europe, in particular, catch-up TV services have been the key driver of free online TV and movie growth. Free online TV views are forecast to grow by 36% in 2011 across the four key countries combined.

Advertising-funded video is a major contributor, says the study, growing 50% this year. In four years, the entire online video revenues in these four countries could more than double to $6.8 billion by 2015.

In total, four countries will amass 770 billion video views in 2011, up from 640 billion in 2010. Over 90% of online videos viewed have been short-form videos. Advertising from short-form content is expected to account for around 60% to 70% of total online video advertising revenues.

Although fee-based online sites are growing, the study says they still remain negligible in many markets when compared with free video platforms. Those pay online services are also up against traditional TV platforms: pay TV, free movies and television content.

Futuresource says the paid-for segment in Europe will make gains by the launch of a handful of key regional streaming subscription services, similar to Netflix in the U.S. Some of those players will most likely include YouTube, Apple and Netflix, rather than new entrants.