There’s a little something for everybody in the media industry in Frank N. Magid Associates’ annual study of user/viewer/reader behavior. We got a look at some of the findings and took especial note of stats on online video usage, research sponsored by video sharing site Metacafe.

Boiled down, YouTube is still king of online video watching, according to nearly 2,000 web users aged 12 to 64 surveyed by Magid Associates. But as online video becomes a part of our daily routine, corroding wholesome activities like watching TV and going to the movies, there should be plenty more room for sites like rival Metacafe or slick Hulu.

Here’s some of the data on the overarching trends. Magid managing director Mike Vorhaus attributes them to a growing appetite for “snack-sized content.” Now try to make some money off it:

* Half of those surveyed watch some type of online video weekly, more than 10 percent watch it daily.

* More male users aged 12 to 24 say they expect to watch online video more often in the next year.

* Comedy and music videos are the most commonly viewed web video content. News stories rank fourth, full-length movies come in 10th.

* More than 40 percent of online video viewers say they’d rather watch video content on their nice TV sets rather than a PC screen.

* 30 percent believe the Internet is the future of video viewing and 28 percent say they watch less TV because of their web video habits. 44 percent say they consider ads within online video clips as similar to ads in TV shows.

(Photo of prisoners in Manila dancing during an exercise program, an act made famous by a video circulated online. Reuters)

In one of the busiest weeks for network TV executives, NBCU’s Jeff Zucker nonetheless stopped by an Avenue A/Razorfish event for a question-and-answer session with the ad company’s vice president of media & entertainment, Domenic Venuto.

Not surprisingly, given it is upfront week, one of the first questions put to Zucker centered on his media company’s rather untraditional upfront.

(A quick refresher: NBC unveiled its lineup for 2008-09 last month, and Monday skipped its usual splashy upfront presentation at Radio City in favor of what it called the NBCU Experience over at 30 Rockefeller Center. For more details click here). 

Zucker said that while the Experience wasn’t perfect, it was certainly a success and accomplished what he had hoped, namely showing off the company’s businesses beyond the NBC network.

“I feel very, very good about how we did on Monday,” said Zucker, before joking that it was unlikely someone would roast the event to his face.

“Nobody ever wants to tell me the truth,” he cracked. “On Monday, what most people said, and many were probably drunk, is thanks and congratulations on doing something different.”

“But, really, the feedback was really positive,” he told the crowd.

He said the same thing on another topic: the reaction to video sharing site Hulu. 

“The user experience is fantastic,” he said. “That has been the No. 1 goal.”

But success comes at some cost, Zucker said.

“Frankly, all of our internal sites have a lot to learn from what Hulu has done.”

(Photo: Reuters)

NBCU is not for sale. Got that?GE Chairman Jeff Immelt plans to put to bed persistent rumors that the industrial conglomerate is considering courting buyers for its broadcast, cable and movies division after the Beijing Olympics, according to the New York Times, citing Immelt’s note to GE investors in its annual report that will be filed on Wednesday.NYT quotes from the letter:“Should we sell NBCU? The answer is no!”"I just don’t see it happening. Not before the Olympics, not after the Olympics. It doesn’t make sense.”Immelt tells investors NBCU earnings are also expected to jump 10 percent this year.Speculation gathered steam last October after the Financial Times reported about Immelt considering NBCU’s fate only after the Olympics in August, citing unnamed sources. That set the chatter mill abuzz with scenario-spinning with potential suitors for pieces, if not the whole.But who really wants a broadcast network — and who doesn’t already have one — these days?(NYTimes)Keep an eye on:

• Hulu launches, finally. (Reuters)
• Spitzer, from all angles. (HuffPost)
• Disney sees $1 billion from online content revenue in 2008, up from $700 million in 2007. (paidContent)
• AOL replaces head of Platform A after just seven months. (NYPost)

(Photo: Reuters)