A survey from the BBC has found that people are watching more television than ever. Unfortunately for broadcasters, they are watching it online, and not via the cathode-ray googoo box.

The BBC commissioned ICM to question some 2,070 people and discover their viewing habits. In short, ICM found that many people are choosing not to tune into repeats of Keeping up Appearances, but instead are going on the internet and finding far more interesting things to watch, like the Diet Coke/Mentos experiments.

Forty-three percent of Britons who said that they watched a lot of internet video content, viewed less TV as a result. This must be slightly worrying for the big terrestrial broadcasters, who throw hundreds of pounds at cutting-edge programming like Torchwood.

Another headache for broadcasters is that many of these people are watching legitimate TV shows on the internet, but through illegitimate sites. Some, such as YouTube, have stopped this for copyright reasons, but other more shadowy sites still stream hit shows such as Lost, The Simpsons, and 24 for free.

The BBC itself lets internet users watch some of its shows on its web site for a limited period, and Channel Five last week streamed a live football match through its web site. Satellite behemoth Sky has also joined the trend, offering the ability to download and watch episodes of Lost for just under three quid via MySpace.

The growing appeal of user-generated content has spurred BBC News 24 to develop You News, an all user-generated news programme. The material for the show, which is still at the pilot stage, will be pulled from the thousands of daily suggestions for stories that the channel’s web site receives.

So, could this trend benefit firms? Well, canny companies have used the internet to influence public opinion since its earliest days. Some firms are becoming adept at using blogs to enhance their image, for example, while others have been known to bolster their brands by letting provocative adverts slip online “by mistake”.

Just a few years ago people disputed the claim that consumers would choose to watch film and television through their computers. Now they not only watch clips, adverts, trailers etc in this way, but they also forward them on to their friends. Adverts in particular can become as viral as Cambodian chickens without ever having been actually broadcast anywhere.

Firms should capitalise on this by creating compelling video and other content that can be used online. Good quality output will always have an audience. And there is definitely an audience out there.