A new survey on simultaneous media usage finds – not surprisingly – that a majority of multi-tasking viewers tune out TV commercials.

The Simultaneous Media Usage Survey (SIMM), released last week by BIGresearch, showed that of those who say they go online while watching television, 94% regularly or occasionally tune out mentally when a commercial comes on. Similarly, 95% of those who read the newspaper while watching television mentally tune out commercials.

In response to the findings, BIGresearch is calling upon the media industry to think differently about consumers, and find new ways to measure its effectiveness in reaching them.

"The power lies with the consumers -- they know how they're going to spend their money," says Gary Drenik, president of BIGresearch. "The industry needs to tap into that before those dollars are spent."

The following chart illustrates the habits of Wal-Mart shoppers who watch TV while using other media:

A program built to reach that consumer, then, must be measured in relational terms rather than in linear ones.