The Sky+ service, which allows viewers to pause and rewind live television programmes, has attracted about 25,000 subscriptions since being launched in September.

"He's pretty patient," Brown said after the two defensive-minded teams slogged out of the gate and made viewers pause to reflect on the unfortunate fate of the Phoenix Suns.

Coca-Cola has paid for advertising that appears on the screen of a ReplayTV user when a viewer pauses a program for more than a few minutes.

The procedure was explained on a card in the display case, but viewers still paused longest at this exhibit to puzzle over how the money was inserted and withdrawn.

Gibbons believed watching the film on DVD would emulate flipping through the book, with viewers pausing or rewinding the film to catch details.

Another viewer pauses a broadcast of "Charmed" (produced by Warner Brothers and shown on WB).

Interested viewers can pause the surf timer or open any site in a new window, giving themselves more time to peruse an ad.

But some viewers may pause to reflect on the apparently unstoppable slide of modern culture into the abyss of infantile vulgarity that is capitalism's inexhaustible gold mine.

Most systems, including Time Warner's Orlando project, would allow viewers to pause or rewind the programs, as if they were using a videocassette recorder.

Digital TV recorders, which allow viewers to pause or stop their favorite shows and replay them later, have also sold more sluggishly than expected.