Until recently, there seemed to be no refuge (aside from the good old BBC, with its constant programme trailers) from the ubiquitous TV ad. Whatever the channel, whatever the time of day or night, whether watched live or via video, the omnipresent television commercial seems to have been gatecrashing our viewing experience.

But then, like a flash of lightning, came a breakthrough.

The new breed of TV programme recorders - PVRs, so-called Personal Video Recorders, some of which can read their masters' minds and record only the programme element of transmissions, leaving out most of the ads. - are even now riding to the rescue of the poor, beleaguered viewer. PVRs such as TiVo and Sky+ are allowing viewers the freedom to choose a less ad-dominated viewing experience.

It is true that TiVo got off to a slow start. Potential consumers couldn't see the point of paying twice as much for what appeared at first glance to be no more than a souped-up VCR. And understandably, perhaps. One of the biggest problems faced by marketeers has been how to condense all of the advantages of PVR technology - which, depending on the specification, can include ease of operation, automatic recording of pre-selected programme types or whole series, the ability to pause playing of a live programme but pick up from the same point on return, making two recordings simultaneously, etc., etc. - into sentences of few syllables.

But other observers point out that VCRs also took time to get off the ground - and now they're in 88% of all homes …

So perhaps TiVo has in effect been no more than a Franklin-style kite-flying exercise, with Sky+ poised to gain the real benefit. Certainly Sky's offering is a big improvement on TiVo and press reports suggest that over 120,000 units had been sold to September last year. Projected growth potential for PVRs looks extremely impressive: Jupiter Research forecasts that penetration in the UK will reach 14% of households by 2006, and double in the 12 months after that.

So whither the 'ubiquitous' TV commercial? How will the old-fashioned 30" spot ad. survive when it is being automatically pruned out of the viewer's schedule?

Perhaps the only effective option will be much more use of sponsored programming, where the sponsor's messages are built into the body of the programme in ways which can evade the editorial interference of the PVR. We are already seeing much increased use of sponsored shows across all commercial stations, of course, as more and more advertisers invoke the subtleties of association to get across their message, rather than the traditional 'hard sell' approach.

There can be no doubt that with increased demand for more TV sponsorship options will come a loosening of the regulatory controls, and a more imaginative use of the genre. Who knows, by the end of the current decade we may find that sponsorship has had as electric an effect on TV advertising patterns as Mr. Franklin's discovery had on our whole lives …