Jun. 7--Scott Shamp recently broached an unprecedented subject with his family -- whether or not to cut cable TV from their home entertainment options as a way to reduce expenses.

"In my household and a lot of households, a lot of people are going through the culling process; what expenses we can do without," said Shamp, director of the University of Georgia's New Media Institute. "How important is cable TV to us? Even though we made the decision to stay with (cable), for the first time ever, there was a discussion about it."

Part of the reason the Shamps talked about ditching cable was the proliferation of Internet TV as a source for television programming. Most major networks are providing their programming online, and Web sites like Hulu, Fancast, Modern Feed, AOL, Veoh Babelqum and Joost are making a huge variety of video material free online.

Since its official debut in 2008, Hulu, co-owned by NBC Universal, News Corp. and Providence Equity Partners, has made a rapid ascent in the viewership count, grabbing the top slot for Internet TV Web sites. Hulu pulled in 42 million viewers in March, doubling the numbers that America's most popular TV show, "American Idol" drew, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Using advertising to support the free service to viewers, Hulu makes available to users a variety of videos -- including more than 1,250 popular TV shows and 400 movie titles -- from more than 100 content providers, including FOX, NBC Universal, Comedy Central, Lionsgate, MGM, MTV Networks, National Geographic, Paramount, PBS, Sony Pictures Television and Warner Bros., according to Hulu's Web site. And Hulu is just one Web site.

With all these video options available free online, will Internet TV watching eventually replace cable subscriptions like cell phones are displacing landline phones?

Jeffrey Rayport, founder and chairman of Marketspace, a digital strategy and customer experience practice affiliated with Monitor Group, said that's a strong possibility and that even cable companies are promoting Internet viewing of their programming. "These days, just about every cable network with any digital marketing savvy uses its own site and others, such as Hulu, to give online users a chance to sample its content," Rayport said in his June 3 blog on BusinessWeek. "Many networks make full shows available free of charge for limited periods of time, often in high-resolution formats."

Cable companies might see their revenues slip as online users who decide to avoid paying the higher cable TV fees simply sign up for a cable provider's broadband Internet connection. In Athens, a user can sign up for as little as $25 a month for Charter's high speed Internet access and get their TV programming that way.

College students especially are more concerned with Internet connectivity than cable access, Shamp said. And college students represent an important demographic for content providers these days, because as they graduate and move on, they will take their lifestyle habits with them, Shamp said.

"College students will be the demographic to change," he said. "When they move into an apartment they have got to have Internet access and way down the list is cable TV, because TV is available on the Internet.