• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, October 31, 2005

The crop of new shows this fall propelled viewers to do more than just turn on their TV sets; the programming also sent fans to the Web, leading to a spike in traffic at sites that offered TV-related content, according to new research from comScore Media Metrix.

Last month, visits to TV-related sites grew by 8 percent to 69.3 million unique visitors--from August's 64.4 million visitors, according to comScore. ABC.com saw a 90 percent surge to 7.6 million visitors, thanks to its roster of hit shows like "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost."

ABC.com, like the sites of some other networks, offers fans a host of Web-only add-ons, like video clips, quizzes--a which-housewife-are-you test, for instance--and blogs, like that of "General Hospital" character Robin Scorpio.

In general, as broadband has become more popular, Web sites have recently started offering more TV-related fare. For instance, Yahoo! this year streamed the debut of the WB series "Supernatural," while Google offered the first episode of UPN's "Everybody Hates Chris." At CBS, the Web site features blogs from shows like "CSI: Miami," "Survivor: Guatemala," "How I Met Your Mother," and "Ghost Whisperer."

comScore also reported that traffic at MSN Television increased to 10.2 million unique visitors, up 76 percent from August; AOL Television saw a 45 percent jump to 10.6 million unique visitors; and Yahoo! TV soared by 30 percent to 8.3 million unique visitors.