US mass media company Time Inc. has hit 1bn monthly digital video views for the month of April – representing 100 per cent growth year-on-year.

Time says that it expects to, this year, produce more than 50,000 videos and over 1,500 hours of live programming. If it continues at this pace, it is set to exceed 8.5bn views this year – nearly doubling last year’s total.

“At a time when facts, genuine relationships, integrity and trust are at a premium, our brands are being sought out at a record rate for the quality and diversity of their video storytelling. Our record breaking one billion video views proves this,” said Rich Battista, president and CEO of Time Inc.

In addition to the impressive video growth figures, announced that Sports Illustrated will launch a video-on-demand streaming service and that the editors of Essence will stream a live weekly show on Twitter – in partnership with mobile video advertising product Adapt Video. In addition, Time will launch three all-social video brands – called The Pretty, ReMade, and The Barrel – which will add to its Well Done social video brand, which launched in March.