• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, February 11, 2008

As expected, the Writers Guild of America strike appears to be contributing to a surge in online video viewing activity, according to new data from the comScore Video Metrix service.

U.S. Web users watched more than 10 billion videos online in December, representing the single heaviest month for online video consumption since comScore initiated its tracking service.

"With the writers' strike keeping new TV episodes from reaching the airwaves, viewers have been seeking alternatives for fresh content," said Erin Hunter, comScore executive vice president of media and entertainment. "It appears that online video is stepping in to help fill that void."

Of 1,000 adults surveyed in a MindShare poll Jan. 11-14, almost half report spending more time online, due to the strike. More than 60% of viewers said their favorite shows were now in repeat mode. Also, close to half of those polled said they were "frustrated" that their favorite shows have been affected, although they still want the writers to get "a fair deal."

Since the strike began in October, Nielsen Online reports that online video sites have more than doubled their traffic. With so many popular TV programs off the air, newer video sites have also found success. Startup Crackle said its audience doubled from 1.2 million at the end of October to 2.4 million in November and December.

According to new comScore data, Google sites saw substantial growth and extended their video market share gains, now accounting for nearly one of every three videos viewed online.

In December, Google's portfolio of video sites, including YouTube, recorded a staggering 3.3 billion videos viewed. YouTube.com accounted for more than 97% of all videos viewed in this group.

Fox Interactive Media ranked second with 358 million video views--3.5%--followed by Yahoo sites with 340 million--3.4 percent--and Viacom Digital with 238 million--2.3%.

In total, nearly 141 million Americans viewed online video in December. Google Sites also captured the largest online video audience with 79 million unique viewers, followed by Fox Interactive Media with 43.9 million and Yahoo sites with 38.2 million.