In a year dramatically impacted by the economic recession, consumers have returned to in-home entertainment, showing increased interest in watching television over other types of entertainment. Released today, Deloitte’s 2009 “State of the Media Democracy” survey reveals a 26 percent increase in the number of Americans choosing the TV as their favorite type of media as compared to the previous year.

Deloitte’s fourth edition State of the Media Democracy survey assesses media consumption preferences of 2,046 consumers, ages 14 to 75 in the United States, revealing significant trends including a surge in television viewing, the ascension of the game console as a stand-alone media platform, the mobile phone’s rapid decoupling of the Internet from the desktop and the rise of tribal marketing.

IGN.com, the leading online videogame media outlet, will power and serve as the content provider for Game On, a new videogame channel on MSN, which launches today at http://gameon.msn.com.

Game On offers consumers a custom experience that features IGN’s industry-leading editorial and video content and the highest-quality gaming information available on the Web today. It joins popular MSN properties like Wonderwall and Delish as the latest addition to MSN’s stable of content partner offerings.

One of the last remaining barriers to broader consumer acceptance to prepaid phones in the United States is now crumbling as prepaid cell phone companies are introducing more and more sophisticated handsets that can be embraced by younger text- and Web-oriented wireless customers, according to New Millennium Research (NMRC) executive director Allen Hepner.

Hepner, who has overseen two major U.S. surveys in the last two years on consumer attitudes about prepaid phone service, said that the arrival of the more advanced handsets should help prepaid phone service connect with recession-weary U.S. consumers who have not already considered prepaid as an alternative to more expensive and restrictive long-term contract-based cell phone service.

Mplayit, the new mobile app store on Facebook that is transforming the mobile app discovery experience, today announced that the full catalog of over 3,500 BlackBerry applications is now available to its growing audience of consumers and fans on the Facebook platform. Mplayit is now the first cross-platform social app store where consumers can find, try, buy, and share apps for iPhone, BlackBerry, and Java-powered mobile devices.

“BlackBerry outsells the iPhone month after month, but most BlackBerry users still have a hard time finding great apps,” said Michael Powers, Founder and CEO of Mplayit. “We help them tap into their social network to discover apps they’ll love and recommend to their friends.”