Surprising fact: Television advertisements can work in fast-forward

I often wonder if TV adverts work any more.  Not in the sense ‘is advertising effective’ but because I watch so many things on catch up TV or by using my remote to fast forward, I rarely seem to watch the ads.  I was interested to read in The Economist how back in the 1980s, marketers could be certain of reaching 90% of American households with an advertisement on prime-time network television. Now they would be lucky to reach a third.  But research has come to light that suggests that it is still possible to get your message across on television, even when a viewer has his finger on the fast-forward button.