According to the “Internet and Multimedia 2007″ report by Edison Media Research and Arbitron, the internet has become increasingly important to US consumers as a medium for information and entertainment, and is approaching the level of television in being “most essential”.

As you can see in the above chart, the internet already leads television among those age 12-17, 18-24, 25-34, and 35-44. Only above age 45 do any age groups still put television in first place.

“It is not a stretch to say that the Internet has become just as important as television as an important source of information and entertainment in the lives of Americans,” said Larry Rosin, president of Edison Media Research.

I bet that in five years time the internet will be the most essential medium for entertainment and info.

"You're going to have so many versions of ads, and you're going to have so many media decisions to make with the fragmentation of the media. How is a human going to be able to process that amount of information?"
- Mark Read, director of strategy for WPP Group