On set of "The Ellen Show" (Twitter/@TheEllenShow).

ALT reported that parts of “The Ellen Show” are the number one most searched YouTube clips. Variety reported that “The Ellen Show” is number one with 6.4 million subscribers.  

According to Variety, 2,400 TV consumers were surveyed in June: 38 percent said they visit YouTube for TV shows. Netflix is at 33 percent, Hulu at 17 percent and Amazon Prime Instant Video at 14 percent. 

This means that people are searching and watching clips, not full-length episodes like you would watching TV. Full episodes are often found on sites like YouTube in separate parts. They  have video titles like “[Insert show title here] Part 1” and so on. 

Sites like YouTube are visited for quick views instead of waiting for the show to start again after commercial; however, the show is usually released on TV before it is found online, or released by the the TV show network’s YouTube channel. 

YouTube is free to browse. Unlike Netflix, Hulu and Amazon, no account is necessary to view video; and the best part? No account means no money spent. 

The downside to sticking strictly to online episode clips is not catching the gist of the entire episode. We often see the end of an episode fade to black along with the audio. Or the clip begins delayed to after the commercial cut off.

Sure, there are less commercials on YouTube, but TV is best when it comes to broadcast network shows (not to mention it’s on a bigger screen). 

The same goes for cable shows. Lengthy episode clips are rare to find when it comes to cable shows. A viewer would need to subscribe to the network, like HBO and Showtime through the cable carrier. By doing so, all shows are accessed any time online, but still—by paid subscription. 

For now, it looks like TV is still the grand outlet for shows. 

Reach Staff Member Tanya Mardirossian here. Follow her on Twitter.