A new study out today shows that the top types of online videos people watch are. Here are the top five:

1. Jokes/funny videos
2. News/current events
3. Amateur videos
4. Movie trailers
5. Music videos

I wasn’t surprised by the top category because it seems like people are more likely to share the funny videos beyond anything else. The one that surprised me most was down the list at number nine: Full length TV shows. As almost every major television network is now providing most or all of their shows online, this is an interesting stat in my view and further validation that online video will only increase and the new Nano was a significant announcement as these videos get converted over to the iPod.

Here’s the rest of the list:

A few weeks ago Apple released a new series of products. The major headlines seemed to go to either the new iPod Touch and the price reduction in the iPhone. Though this news may have overshadowed the update/name change about the iPod Classic, the new iPod Nano, and iPod Shuffle colors (which was hardly news, but still…), I think we will look back at this product release and see that the most significant announcement was new Nano.

The new Nano now plays video and the prices are at a level that lowers the barriers to entry so virtually anyone to get a personalized video player. Apple clearly dominates the MP3 market and the new Nano solidifies them in personal video players. Sure, the screen is small (2 inches) and the Nano moniker seems a little less applicable with this short and stocky version, but it doesn’t matter. For $150 (4 GB) or $200 (8 GB) you get a video iPod.

So who should care about this? Well, video content creators to start. By January there will be loads of new and eager new Nano owners looking for good video content to fill their iPods. If you were ever thinking about starting a video blog/video podcast, now is the time more than ever. If you create video of any form and don’t allow people to subscribe to it, you’re about to miss out on a new wave of potentially interested people. Get some RSS feeds tied into your existing video and register with iTunes so people can subscribe.

If you have video that you sell, start promoting the heck out of it this fall. If you can bust up your video so it can be sold off in smaller parts, give that some consideration as well. Again, there’s going to be a new group of consumers for your content.

If your business is trying to find a new way to regularly engage existing clients, consider this option: this Christmas send your clients a Nano and start a weekly five minute video podcast from your organization. Have the first video podcast ready for subscription by the time the clients receive their gift and you’ll be giving them something with a high perceived value but also be handing them the vehicle to further you ability to connect with them. After all, now there’s a little video for everyone.

I saw an article on iLounge.com about the new iPod Nano’s little known capability…it can record audio. Apparently the iPods will ship with recording software built in. You can read the full iLounge coverage here. They also review some microphones that can be attached to the iPods.

This might be just the hook to get your church or ministry to start podcasting…or maybe it’s just the excuse you were needing to justify a new iPod.