The latest survey of Harris Interactive among 2,455 adults shows YouTube’s dominant position as the one-stop site for online video viewing. More importantly, overall online viewership has increased from 74% last year to 81% this year.

Approximately two-thirds (65%) of U.S. online adults say they have watched a video at YouTube, compared to 42 percent at the same time last year – with strongest gains among those over age 25. Over two in five (42%) YouTube viewers say they visit the site frequently, up from 33 percent last year. Mirroring last year’s results, just over two in five U.S. adults have watched videos on a TV network site (43% vs. 41%).

However, the future might not look bright for this powerful video sharing site. The survey indicates TV episodes and full-length movies top the list of the type of videos people want to watch. To make matters worse, only 8% prefer to watch more amateur or user-generated videos, the core strength of YouTube. This serve as a warning signal for the company to keep a watchful eye on the alleged YouTube-killer, Hulu.

The research echoes ChoiceStream’s 2007 Survey of Viewer Trends in TV & Online Video where 65% of the consumers watch professionally-produced TV programming while only 39% are into UG videos.

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