The Flaming Lips have YouTubed their latest self-created video, to the toll of 3,000 views currently.

YouTube marks 5,662,082 views for their most viewed clip. But catch this: Kanye - Touch the Sky is about to crack FOUR MILLION views? Shit! (N.B. I don't think that's unique)

Meanwhile, Fall Out Boy is at 3.5m! And Black Eyed Peas - Pump It is 2.6m. (Francis Lawrence's latest)

These numbers - not to mention the viewership of the other copies of these videos out there (iTunes, Yahoo, AOL, label websites) - will continue to increase.

Have we reached the point where videos get more viewership on the internet than on a single major network? If not, when?

Internet-only videos from major/indie labels are nothing new. While I haven't researched this, there have been quite a few, not to mention the viewer-submitted type. But the Internet's power to deliver video is becoming more and more effective. YouTube's current, very-quickly-harvested ability to fly in the face of idiotic copyright/licensing issues and play the role of a network and deliver videos that fans want to see is remarkable. Yes, crappy quality, but decent enough to grant exposure.

Something to think about and research.. Anybody else have numbers/thoughts?

I think we reached the point where viewership on the internet is bigger then in telly. I can't speak for other country, but here in Germany, since we lost the channel called viva2, there is not a good one for mvs anymore. If I wanna watch Videos which are not mainly by Lindsay Lohan or Tokio Hotel I have to watch them online. (This might not be the reason for the succes of pages like YouTube, cause it seems, that the most succesfully mvs are these ones who also rotate heavy on the ringtone channels (or am i wrong?)) - fact is: MTV is pimping. The internet is the bigger source for videos - no matter if good or bad.

rough antville numbers, currently: 50.000 views per week, avg 5.000 per day (top day over 8.000). under 4% return visitors.

You may think the copyright laws are idiotic (I don't and I wonder why anyone in a creative career would NOT want their work copywritten) but these numbers show WHY the labels want to sell MVs on iTunes and the like. Clearly people wanna see Kanyevel and the record companies want to cash in on that, which is why production company and director websites are being asked to not offer full-length clips. The labels don't the competition, they want the control.

Have we reached the point where internet is more important that music television? It depends on the artist. For big label rap/rock/pop acts - no. They will always capitalize on the passive, young, click-on-the-tv-and-see-what-they-show-me crowd. For Lindsay Lohan and Korn, MTV and its brethren will always rule. For more alternative acts (like everything on antville) without big promotion or production budgets – the internet is already the main stage, as far as I can tell. If there was a single, free place to go to watch ALL videos that worked with every OS and browser (iTunes strength) – the Intranets would be even more powerful.

Per copyright, I wrote that in a haste, and I don't think it's idiotic, just a bit mismanaged. I guess in reality I would like to see everyone get a fair shake - artists, label employees, and, for mv's, directors, etc. Anyway, just a correction.

I guess both planes will coexist for a while? At least until YouTube quality is the same as what they sell on iTMS.