The top 10 TV advertisers over the last 20 years may have changed, as the technology companies that currently hold the top three spots have eclipsed the fast food and beer companies that were there in the '90s.

But television itself has maintained itself as a top advertising medium.

Or so said a panel of industry execs at Thursday's Television Bureau of Advertising in Manhattan.

"TV as a whole continues to dwarf every other media," said Brian Wieser, SVP, director of industry analysis, Magna. Television still meets advertisers' needs more than any other platform, he said.

While small businesses are turning to new platforms, particularly the Internet, large companies still know that television is the biggest player when it comes to reaching consumers, he said. The Web, he added, may be attracting new advertisers but is not taking them away from television.

It's a myth that advertisers don't reach young consumers via television, he said.

And while wealthier households may greater access to multiple platforms, television is still the medium that reaches consumers regardless of economic status, he said.

Others agree. Though new viewing options continue to emerge, Roger Keating, senior vice president, digital media, Hearst-Argyle Television, said he believes the long-standing agreement that stations will offer viewers content in exchange for advertising, still holds. "The nature of the ad form is changing. The relevance of the ad form has changed. But the nature of the relationship we have with viewers hasn't," he said.

Steve McGowan, senior vice president, insights and client research initiatives, The Nielsen Co., said the popularity of tools like DVRs and video on-demand shows consumer interest in controlling when and how they watch programming.

That, however, doesn't undercut viewers' loyalty to traditional TV viewing, he said.

"The tools are there if they want to be in the driver's seat," McGowan said. "But I'm not sure that there are enough drivers out there who want to take control that much."

The recent success of Olympics coverage — which drew the largest Olympics audience ever — shows that, the panel said.

"It's good to be a broadcaster, the last great mass media, in a world that looks like that," Keating said.