In a recent US poll by adroit digital, YouTube was voted more popular than live TV among over 18's. 

This is an important milestone for social media in that for the first time, if you wish to get your ads viewed, TV is less popular than online video media. However, there is a big difference in conversion rates between the two delivery systems. Typically advertising on social media has relatively low return on investment (ROI), wheres TV and radio advertising is generally considered to be an effective way of increasing sales and brand awareness, mainly due to the passive delivery mechanism. It is much harder to force people to watch ads online than it is to slip them in the middle or at the start of live programming.

However, social media are becoming more effective at delivering targeted advertising. The amount of personal information that is available to online marketeers makes such advertising much more relevant to the viewer than the clumsy demographic data that live TV can draw on.

There is a saying, where America leads, the UK follows. If this is true, then the focus of advertising media should shift towards more non traditional platforms of delivery.