The last few days have yielded some eye-popping online video stats from research firms and companies with skin in the game. For starters, researcher Parks Associates has found in its latest studies that women are more ravenous consumers of online TV shows than men. Parks Associates found that women are 73% more likely than men to have watched a full-length TV show online in the past 30 days.

Whatever business you're in, sometimes you need to talk the talk and walk the walk. That's why I have to say I'm impressed with the new Web series that ad agency JWT rolled out last week. Called "Worldmakers," the web-based talk show features one-on-one style interviews with JWT WorldWide CEO and Chairman Bob Jeffrey and various digital thought leaders. The effort launched at CES on Friday, rolling out with a series of interviews conducted at the show with executives at Facebook, Bravo, Unilever and more.

The more tailored the ad the better the response, right? In some cases, yes. Video technology provider SundaySky has found that personalized video for its brand partners including Office Depot, LivingSocial, AT&T and Overstock can generate higher conversion rates, the company said. SundaySky creates and delivers targeted videos dynamically to site visitors. The videos are like a cross between product videos and targeted video ads. "Targeted, personalized messaging based on users' interactions typically generate 30% higher conversion rates," SundaySky President Jim Dicso said in an email interview.

As it aims to expand deeper into social video for its shows, VH1 plans to roll out a second screen experience for the broadcast of the 17th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards on January 12. If successful, VH1 is likely to incorporate video more regularly into its social media marketing for its programs and into mobile social apps.

Product videos are increasingly playing a key role in driving consumer purchase decisions. Online video e-commerce company Invodo said that its online retail partners saw a 9 times increase in video views on their sites at the start of the just-completed holiday shopping season. That includes companies such as Crocs, Golfsmith and Office Depot -- all Invodo clients.

Not content to deliver ads across the Web and mobile phones alone, online video ad vendors are extending their reach into connected TVs in a big way this year, and the Consumer Electronics Show, starting today, has already yielded several new deals. Online video ad technology firm Ooyala struck a partnership with Panasonic to offer its video publishing partners access to connected TVs. Ooyala said The Country Network is the first publisher to use its tools to reach audiences via smart TVs. More video publishers are expected to sign on for the syndication tools this quarter to deliver their programming …

As online video proponents - yes, I assume if you read this blog you have a stake in the online video business -it's nice to know ad dollars are rising and consumers are watching more video online. But what matters most is whether this viewing can translate into more engagement for a programmer delivering the content or a brand sponsoring it. According to interactive video ad firm Jivox, consumers have indeed been interacting with ads, especially during the holidays. Jivox said that interactive ads that ran on Christmas Day scored engagement rates six times higher than on Cyber Monday. Were …

We're cutting the cord and we're not cutting the cord. A just released report from Deloitte on the state of the media business said that 9% of U.S. consumers have ditched their cable or satellite service and another 11% are considering canceling. The reason? They can watch the shows they like online. What's more, another 15% of respondents say they will most likely watch movies and TV shows via online video options in the near future, suggesting that consumers are becoming more willing to try out new ways to watch shows.

I'm not going to write about Netflix today. Nope. Not even the fact that Netflix users watched more than 2 billion hours of streaming video in the fourth quarter of 2011 , according to an announcement yesterday from the company. Nor of the fact that those figures equate to each subscriber watching about 30 hours per month, or an hour a day, which is 4.5 times higher than the time spent with YouTube , said Will Richmond in VideoNuze. And ten times that of Hulu.

Over the New Year's weekend, a friend of mine picked up his daughter from a playdate with my daughter and during the requisite pick-up chat, he remarked "There's nothing to watch on Netflix. Have you noticed that?" Why, yes. I have. And maybe it's not Netflix's fault. Because I feel the same way when I go to Redbox or DVD Express - the past year has simply not been a great one for movies.