Hours can be lost to Facebook or MySpace. A television is hardly necessary to stay up to date with your favourite programme thanks to online video sites – official or otherwise. And the digital video recorder means that reruns of Desperate Housewives are readily available without paying for the DVD box-set, or scheduling sofa-time at the broadcaster’s anointed hour. Better still, these all feel free.

They are not, of course. But utility-style payments for a broadband connection or DVR buy access to vast quantities of in-home entertainment. About a third of US households have a DVR, while more than four-fifths have a fast internet connection, according to Barclays Capital. The cost is baked into the household budget through the monthly bills – and often comes bundled with such necessities as a phone and cable TV.