The study found that the number of American consumers watching video streamed through a browser had soared over the past year, from 32 percent a year ago to 63 percent today.

ABI Research said growth in consumption of online video was due to a number of factors, including an increase in the amount of rich content available and more broadband connections.

"Consumers are changing their online habits quickly," ABI's Digital Home research director Michael Wolf said in a statement.

"Broadband speeds have continued to increase at the same time that Hollywood has decided online distribution is a legitimate monetization opportunity that will increase total return on their video assets, and expand audiences."

In September, Seth MacFarlane, creator of "Family Guy" on television, will unveil a carefully guarded new project called "Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy." Unlike "Family Guy," which is broadcast on Fox, this animation series will appear exclusively on the Internet.

The innovative part involves the distribution plan. Google will syndicate the program using its AdSense advertising system to thousands of Web sites that are predetermined to be gathering spots for Mr. MacFarlane’s target audience, typically young men. Instead of placing a static ad on a Web page, Google will place a "Cavalcade" video clip.

Advertising will be incorporated into the clips in varying ways. In some cases, there will be "preroll" ads, which ask viewers to sit through a TV-style commercial before getting to the video. Some advertisers may opt for a banner to be placed at the bottom of the video clip or a simple "brought to you by" note at the beginning.

Mr. MacFarlane, who will receive a percentage of the ad revenue, has created a stable of new characters to star in the series, which will be served up in 50 two-minute episodes.

That's all about to change. Time Warner's CNN this week will enter YouTube territory with the launch of iReport.com, a new Web site built entirely on user-produced news. And unlike CNN's own properties-where only iReport submissions that have been handpicked by editors and checked for accuracy ever make it online or on air-the new site will be wide open, allowing users to post whatever content they choose, CNN said.

The new site looks and feels much like YouTube and other video-centric destinations. Wannabe Anderson Coopers can upload videos, photos and audio files through an easy-to-use interface. Visitors to the site can search for specific clips or sift through various news categories, such as politics or weather. Users also can rate and share clips, and even embed them on personal Web sites.

CNN executives acknowledge that iReport.com's openness is something of a departure for a news organization that prides itself on accuracy and editorial judgment. But iReports have become increasingly popular, and in many cases have even proved beneficial in the reporting of breaking news. Some of the most compelling footage from last April's shootings on the Virginia Tech campus came from the 420 user-gen video clips CNN received, while last year's California wildfires yielded more than 11,000 submissions.

Obama Girl has found a new friend in Herb Scannell, whose online video startup Next New Networks has acquired BarelyPolitical.com, the site behind the viral-video hit.

BarelyPolitical was founded in June by Ben Relles and quickly rose to prominence thanks to the 2008 presidential election sendup, "I Got a Crush on Obama," which has been viewed millions of times and featured on news shows on networks from ABC to al-Jazeera. The site followed up with other politically focused music videos.

"Having BarelyPolitical as part of the group is kind of a feather in the cap," said Scannell, the CEO and co-founder of Next, which runs 14 other niche channels. "We're excited about this as a pretty big slice in the world of micronetworks."

Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt told investors and news reporters on a conference call following news of the deal that YouTube will be "one of many investments" Google plans to make in the video field.

Schmidt said that Google will run YouTube as an independent company but also preserve its own Google Video as a separate operation. He described YouTube as the "clear winner in networking and the social side of video" for the way the site encourages its users to share videos with their friends.

While Sony's purchase is significantly smaller than New York-based News Corp.'s $580 million entry into the Web 2.0 world, it represented quite a feat for Grouper co-founders Josh Felser and David Samuel. They launched Grouper in 2004 as a peer-to-peer file-sharing network. A year later, after this model failed to gain sufficient traction, Felser and Samuel switched their focus to video sharing, and traffic to their site improved dramatically.

The 26-employee online video-sharing Web site is one of a burgeoning crop of Web 2.0 companies, which enable users to network with others, share and post online content and watch videos, among other services. They are widely viewed as the next generation of Internet start-ups.

The new service, AOL Video, aims to be the one-stop shop for online videos and will let users search for videos across the Web, upload their own, or buy or watch for free thousands of TV shows from any one of 45 video-on-demand channels on nearly any device.

Users will also be able to subscribe and rent videos later this year, executives said.

These channels will include shows licensed from Viacom Inc.'s MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central networks, A&E Television Networks, and corporate sibling Warner Bros.

The launch comes at a critical moment at the online division of Time Warner Inc. and precedes a presentation by AOL on Wednesday, when it will lay out a new strategic plan widely believed to involve giving away its e-mail and Web services away for free to boost online advertising sales.

San Mateo, California-based YouTube, the Web's top destination for "viral" videos spread via word of mouth, has already been forced by broadcaster NBC to remove clips of the popular "Lazy Sunday" hip-hop spoof, which was originally broadcast on "Saturday Night Live."

Tens of thousands of videos are submitted to YouTube and about 15 million are viewed every day. Many of the videos are amateur footage, but copyrighted TV and movie clips can easily be found.

"We're constantly trying to balance the rights of copyright owners with the rights of our users," YouTube said in a posting on the site. "We did some analysis of the videos in our system over 10 minutes in length, and we found the overwhelming majority of them were full length, copyrighted videos from TV shows and movies."

The expansion of AOL's video service, which will combine free and pay-per-download shows from established programmers and user-created video clips, aims to address complaints about the rigid pricing structure and the mix of available programing on iTunes.

It also puts the Dulles, Virginia unit in competition with Yahoo Inc., which this week said it planned to scale back on creating original programing, and Google Inc..

The service will sell Time Warner-owned shows and those created by other programmers and networks, the company said, declining to name partners.

"We've been in discussion for months with every major cable and broadcast network," Kevin Conroy, executive vice president of AOL Media Networks told Reuters.

The site has struck its first formal partnership to obtain copyrighted content with MTV2, a cable channel overseen by Viacom's MTV Networks, a spokesman confirmed. YouTube has drawn sharp criticism from broadcasters for allowing its users to upload pirated programming from the airwaves without permission. MTV2 is seeding YouTube.com with multiminute clips from a pair of series promoting new seasons and DVD releases this month: "The Andy Milonakis Show" and "Wonder Showzen."

AOL, which already has one of the largest video libraries on the Internet, is in discussions with broadcast and cable networks about allowing their content on its site, says Kevin Conroy, AOL's executive in charge of video strategy. He wouldn't elaborate further. AOL will allow downloads to personal computers and would like to enable people to use its service to interact with Apple Computer's popular iTunes site if Apple will permit it, he says.

Pricing details for the service are still being worked out and Conroy wouldn't divulge the names of any of the companies that are in discussions with AOL. He said content providers won't limit their Web distribution to AOL.

Media reviewers, bloggers and users complain that selections are skimpy and hard to find. Strict usage rules which prevent prime-time shows from being viewed offline, aren't prominently identified, and some shows promised initially aren't there.

Among those missing in action: Rocky and Bullwinkle, My Three Sons and Mannix.

"Embarrassing," says Brad Hill, who runs the Unofficial Google Weblog.

Google says it is working to upgrade the site, which is in "beta," or trial mode.

"We're making changes every day," says Peter Chane, senior product manager for Google Video. "The best is yet to come."