(7 February 2008 2:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Nearly 80 million Americans (43 per cent of the online population) have watched one of their favourite TV shows on the Internet, up significantly from 12 months ago when that figure was just 25 per cent.

20 per cent of the American online population said they watch TV on the web on a weekly basis, and that is ahead of the 14 per cent who say they take advantage of cable’s video-on-demand offerings. These findings come from "Digital Life America" tracking study conducted quarterly by Solutions Research Group.

The company interviewed 1,150 Americans aged 12 and older in November 2007, to take advantage of the fall sweeps with its strong first-run prime time content, and capture a realistic picture of multi-platform TV viewing.

To watch a specific show was the main reason cited for 21 per cent of all visits to major network websites in November 2007. Of the major TV network sites, abc.com received the highest user experience score among those who streamed a TV show, with 52 per cent rating their overall experience as excellent, followed by fox.com (44 per cent excellent)

Top major network TV shows viewed on the Internet included Heroes, Grey’s Anatomy, Dancing with the Stars, Ugly Betty, CSI and House. Those who viewed one of the leading 20 prime time shows in the past 24 hours (titles such as Grey’s Anatomy, House, Survivor-China ) were asked to identify the source of viewing. Overall, 25 per cent of prime time viewing was time shifted using a DVR, broadband, mobile or similar.