• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, August 13, 2007

It's no surprise that the growth in broadband, combined with the surge in available online material, is spurring people to spend more time on content sites than in the past.

Today the Online Publishers Association issued a new study attempting to quantify people's changing online media habits. The group reports that people now devote more online hours to content than e-mail or other communications, marking a reversal from just four years ago.

Currently, Web users spend 47% of their time online on content sites, up from 34% in 2003. Communications sites like email, on the other hand, draw just 33% of people's online time today, down from 46% four years ago.

The OPA attributes the shift to a variety of reasons, including the ballooning in quality offerings, the growth of Web video, people's tendency to go online for news, and increased broadband penetration. The OPA doesn't break out which content sites are benefiting most, but highlights people's desire to learn more about breaking news as one key driver.

Still, despite the possible growth in online news articles, it seems likely that the main reason for the shift is the result of the recent explosion of Web video sites, ranging from YouTube to Joost to TV networks' own sites. Four years ago -- or even eight years ago, for that matter -- people were able to turn to the Web for breaking news, while video sites were nonexistent.

Yes, newspapers have built out their sites a great deal in recent years, but there's also no real question that people are watching more Web video than in the past. And, as the Web becomes more and more like television, it's clear that online newspapers face more competition, not less, from other Internet offerings.