WebTV usage - is TV writers strike shooting TV in foot?

Fascinating article on Pew Internet (hat tip to the BBC) about the jump of WebTV consumption in the US in late 2007 - they hypothesize that this is due to the TV writers' strike.

The dramatic rise in the number of video-sharing sites and other websites that incorporate video has had the knock-on effect of increasing the number of amateur video makers.

Some 22% of Americans now shoot their own videos, with 14% of them posting at least some of that video online.

I love the concept of the 2 MSM TV media disputing sides busy shooting each other in the feet while the newcomer sneaks past to seduce the customer in distress

As interesting is the usage of UGC video as a new form of communication - has the oft dreamed of SF staple of Vidmail arrived? It seems that these services are increasingly being used for vodcasting and videoblogging, with some interesting implications for areas that until now were tightly controlled by "legacy" systems - for example Politics 2.0:

Video sharing sites are also getting more closely involved in the issues that affect everyday Americans.

In the summer YouTube co-hosted a presidential debate with TV giant CNN.

The two-hour long broadcast featured all eight of the declared Democratic candidates and consisted entirely of questions that had been submitted online.

We blogged yesterday about whether phenomena like these are forming new, grassroots conversations and social networks that for example the New Hampshire Pollsters can't measure.