A survey of TV station Web sites in small and large markets finds that broadcasters have embraced online video and are quickly figuring out ways to capitalize on it.

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Of the 50 sites reviewed in Broadband Directions’ The Broadcast TV Industry and Broadband Video: Confronting New Challenges, Embracing New Opportunities, 40 offered broadband video, mostly news culled from the daily newscasts.

And of the 40, 33 were generating revenue, mostly with pre-roll video spots. Only four of the 33 still relied solely on banner ads.

“TV stations are pursuing a diverse range of broadband video activity,” says Will Richmond, president of Broadband Directions. “And there is a real correlation between how prominently they highlight the video and how much usage actually occurs.”

Broadband video has caught the attention of local advertisers, Richmond says. They are particularly interested in online video directories that allow them to tout their products and services in video clips—something they can’t do in the yellow pages on in the newspapers.

“Those models are definitely working,” he said.

The study sites two stations for deploying "immersive, video-oriented health and home directories"—Montecito's KOIN Portland, Ore., and Meredith's WNEM Flint, Mich.

Such sites can "attract new advertisers...who were previously unable to afford on-air advertising," the study says.

Other key findings:

• Few stations have yet to embed video players on their home pages.
• Flash is becoming the most popular video technology.
• User-generated video has not arrived, but it is coming.
• Stations are beginning to tap into video syndication services like AP and ClipSyndicate.