iTunes Video Downloads Top 1 Million

Over one million videos have been downloaded through the iTunes Music Store since October 12, Apple said on Monday. Currently, only about 2,000 videos exist on the service, including music videos, short films from Pixar, and episodes of five television shows including Lost and Desperate Housewives.

As of Monday morning, the top five videos on the service were Michael Jackson's "Thriller" (appropriate considering Monday is Halloween in the United States), the first and most recent episodes of the television show Lost, Pixar's "For the Birds," and Fatboy Slim's video for "Weapon of Choice" with a dancing Christopher Walken.

Steve Jobs in a statement to the press said that he believed the results show a market for legal video downloads, while hinting that Apple was not resting on its laurels. "Our next challenge is to broaden our content offerings, so that customers can enjoy watching more videos on their computers and new iPods," he said.

The success of video downloads could suggest that sales of the fifth-generation iPod could be equally as promising. ABC is also happy, and the number of shows available through the service should increase in early 2006 after the network secures the necessary rights to make the programs available online.

Nonetheless, Apple is remaining tight-lipped as to whether it plans to launch the video service outside the United States any time soon. However, since the new iPod is being sold worldwide, it seems logical that more video stores may be on the way for international iTunes customers.

Television programs like Desperate Housewives and Lost are some of the most frequently pirated downloads in many countries outside the United States, according to recent research.