ClipBlast, which indexes Web video content, notes that this growth has been very rapid in the past four months, as hundreds of local-affiliate sites have begun augmenting print stories with video clips. From the release:

"People clearly prefer to watch the news rather than read it - and they're rapidly discovering that news clips are available online, on demand," said Gary Baker, ClipBlast! founder and CEO. "Even the smallest affiliates now recognize what national news organizations have known for years: the race is on to win Web viewers." ...

Based on ClipBlast! indexing and traffic, the following trends are emerging:

-- TV stations that were previously limited to posting static text on their sites, such as news-story transcripts, are increasingly adding video. "We're seeing migration from text to video faster than ever before," said Baker.

-- The number of video streams from national, local and worldwide news organizations is rising rapidly. Some stations opt to simulcast live on TV and across the Web. Others stream prerecorded programming or time-delayed newscasts. Still others offer streaming as a paid-subscription service.