Fans of television shows that watch episodes online are more loyal to the online sponsors, as well as the show itself, a new study explains.

A new study from Knowledge Networks finds that almost 49 percent of TV network Web site viewers say that sponsorship of the streaming or download of an episode would increase their opinion of the brand, MediaPost reports.

The study, entitled "How People Use TV's Web Connections," also found that users of streaming or downloaded network video are much more likely than internet users overall (30 percent versus 22 percent) to buy from companies that advertise on their favorite programs. The study also discovered that 25 percent of online viewers for a program say they watch the broadcast version more often because of their use of the online material.