Some 27 percent of US online adults have visited a local TV website in the previous 30 days, though the top 15 markets overall are not well-represented among the markets with the highest percentage of TV-website visitors, according to (pdf) recently released findings from a survey by The Media Audit, writes MarketingCharts.

The study, conducted between January 2006 and April 2007, was based on a telephone survey of 118,211 randomly selected adults across 88 markets.

Only two of the top 15 markets are among the top 15 with the highest proportions of adults who visit a local TV website:

• Houston, ranked 8th in adult population, was 10th in terms of the percentage of adults visiting the local TV website.
• Philadelphia, ranked 7th in adult population, was 13th.

"Television…stations have been putting renewed effort into their websites, and it is paying off," said Bob Jordan, President of The Media Audit. "Across the nation 73 percent of adults are going online. With 27 percent going to local TV websites, this means that nearly 40 percent of internet users are visiting their local TV websites."

In six markets - Raleigh, Tulsa, Denver, Columbia, Little Rock and Madison - over half the adult online population is going to a local TV website, according to Jordan, who said he expects the number of such markets to "more than double over the next year."

"Generally, it is the markets with the highest internet penetration that have the highest percent of TV website visitors" noted Jim Higginbotham, cofounder and head of research for The Media Audit. "It makes sense that if a market has a strong orientation to the internet, then the TV stations will do well."