The slowing economy has also lead to advertisers demanding a more tangible return on investment. Traditional broadcast TV is lacking compared to newer, easily measurable services such as IPTV. However, advertisers should not begin ignoring this medium just yet.

Ad potential of DVR

A recent study by NBC showed that DVR viewers actually paid more attention to adverts.
"When not able to be skipped completely, fast forwarded ads at speed have been seen to have as good as or better recall in studies by NBC. Why's this? Probably the keen fast forwarding viewer is looking when to drop back to normal speed and actually paying more attention to the images than leaving the room for a cup of tea. Tweaks to ad edits and design can maximise this effect," said Paul Cleghorn, founder and CEO of social media and TV content aggregator, Tioti

Video-based entertainment, as a whole also continues to grow in influence on consumers' lives. A new report by Solutions Research Group revealed that US Internet users aged 12 and above spent on average, a quarter of their day viewing video-based content. The Multiplatform Video Report showed that around four hours a day were spent on traditional television, DVRs and VOD viewing. Video games, the Web, DVDs, mobile video and PC video accounted for a further 2.1 hours.

Interestingly, females spent 70.4 per cent of their total video-based entertainment time watching television. This in contrast to just over half (57.7 per cent) of males who did the same.

Solution Research Group predicted that by early 2013, the number of hours spent watching video-based entertainment would be around eight hours every day.

No ad model of VOD

This rise in usage is obviously of interest to advertisers. However, much like traditional television, VOD also continues to struggle with a strong enough case for advertisers to put their hands in their pockets and push messages via the medium.

Certainly in the short-term, VOD's potential as an advertising vehicle is restrained by its penetration - less than two-in-five households with TVs have access to VOD, according to MAGNA Global.

Web TV on the TV?

While VOD services struggle with implementing effecting ad models, the popularity of the Web continues to grow. Research by Deloitte Development revealed how computers have taken over television as the entertainment device of choice in the household.

Unsurprisingly, youngsters were most likely to see computers as their preferred entertainment medium. 80 per cent of those questioned turned to the PC before TV.

The humble TV is not yet dead though. Traditional broadcast television may be flagging but it seems as though the box in the corner of the room could continue to be a focal point for entertainment. Over half of those surveyed would like to easily connect their TV to PC in order to view downloaded content.