WebProNews

If you watched the lead-in to "My Name is Earl" last night, you know that (a) Jeff Zucker, the president and CEO of NBC Universal, isn't terribly funny, and (b) his network is pushing online video.  But even with Zucker's "The Office"-gone-bad awkwardness, it seems the act of watching television online is becoming more popular.

 Jeff Zucker

A new report from the Convergence Consulting Group states, "We estimate online viewing of full-episode Broadcast/Cable Network TV as a percentage of the traditional TV base was 9% in 2007 (6% in 2006), and we forecast 14% for 2008, 19% for 2009, and 23% for 2010."

Or, in other words: by the end of the decade, about one out of every four times somebody sits down to watch a show, they'll be facing either a computer monitor or a television connected to a computer.

Assuming the report is reliable ("[s]ources include hundreds of company interviews, quarterly, annual reports & presentations," and Convergence contacted around 1,000 consumers), this stat is something content creators will want to keep in mind.  Advertisers should also pay attention to the trend, of course.  It even seems they can get a deal, since "US online TV advertising . . . revenues represented 2% ($1.4 billion) of US Broadcast/Cable Network TV advertising revenue in 2007."

A hat tip goes to Jacqui Cheng, and a polite suggestion that Jeff Zucker stay off the air may be in order, as well.