Americans watching more TV than ever -- due to increasing web usage

To all the television executives who shiver at the statistics of higher internet usage amid lowered television rankings, has there ever been any thought to the increase in internet usage actually leading to increased television viewing? Just like those who download music illegally to get a taste -- and then "buy" an entire album afterwards --- the same connection may exist between content in the internet world and content from the broadcast television world. Maybe.

Consumers just want more television -- and a barrage of announcements support that over and over again each and every year. When Microsoft and Apple are trying like mad to move content off the PC and into the living room (read: onto the television), you know that the cultural significance of the boob tube is not going away so easily, even as the numbers of viewers for some programs wane. But -- alas -- the broadcast networks and even cable television networks may have new competition -- where tons of new content is piped from a PC or directly from the internet into the television set in the living room. That is the thought that scares existing television network executives -- and it should.

Televisions as equipment are not going away -- but the supply of content could be changing with the advent and popularity of broadband internet piped into homes. Ever heard of IPTV? That's just one in a slew of new technologies that could be changing things -- but all the while, that new flat-panel HDTV isn't going anywhere soon.