Among the hottest trends across the internet today is the YouTube explosion, websites that allow people to upload and watch home-made videos for free. There are over 200 companies currently trying to cash in on the hot trend. The most popular of them all is YouTube.com with over 100 million videos being watched by users each day, either through its main page or a feature that allows its videos to be displayed through personal blogs. YouTube is the current leader, but only with a 43% market share, with the rest of the market quickly being occupied by big names such as Google Video and Veoh that are serving up millions of videos on their own. The phenomenon’s rapid growth and popularity is so impressive that the question is now being asked; is YouTube.com the next evolution in television? Sony is beginning to think so. Just last week, they spent $65 million in acquiring video-sharing website Grouper so they can invest in the space. Major television networks are certainly taking notice. In June NBC signed a strategic partnership with YouTube to have them carry promotional videos for their television line-up and all of the top record labels are currently in negotiations with YouTube to carry music videos. Television networks have moved very quickly to develop their own online broadcasts. ABC, NBC, Disney, and Canada’s own CTV have added YouTube-like web televisions to their online sites to broadcast their show segments and promotions in high-quality players that can go full screen. It’s a trend that’s having a major impact on consumer electronics. Hewlett-Packard just unveiled a wireless television that can accept videos from a computer that they describe as being made “for the YouTube world”. The shift is not just in the distribution of video, from traditional television broadcasts to online community servers, but also a shift in the kind of content being offered. Thanks to the rise of camcorders, webcams, and high-speed internet, YouTube is in a position to embrace the best of home-made videos, to offer a kind of rough, raw, reality that even standard television’s own “reality tv” can’t match. Many of today’s top clips include confessionals and light-hearted clips from all ages, such as teen girl talking about a break-up to her webcam, to juggler who’s talents were overlooked all his life until the internet found them. A video made by a 79 year-old man from the UK recently became the most popular clip on the Youtube network. A widower who lives in the middle of England, Peter goes by the online handle of “geriatric1927” and his video, entitled “first try” has gained fans of all ages, from around the world. I’m including his video below and you can click here to see more of Peter’s videos.