In a word: online. Not too long ago, the medium that packed the biggest outreach punch was television — hands down. But the remote is giving ground to the mouse as more and more people spend their downtime surfing the Web, managing their social network presence, blogging, shopping and generally just contributing to the collective interactive experience.

Need proof? Television’s biggest adherents are baby boomers. Those tweens, teens and millenials, pockets heavy with parental discretionary income, aren’t camped in front of the set. As explained in the latest edition of Variety:

According to a study released by Magna Global’s Steve Sternberg, the five broadcast nets’ average live median age (in other words, not including delayed DVR viewing) was 50 last season. That’s the oldest ever since Sternberg started analyzing median age more than a decade ago — and the first time the nets’ median age was outside of the vaunted 18-49 demo.

If your objective is to influence boomers, the idiot box may still have its merits. If, however, you’re hoping to interact with the next generation, your efforts are bound to fizzle on television. Instead, enhancing your online presence and your ability to create an engaging user community, is proving to be the smart play.