The Simpsons, The X-Files and Sky Sports are seen to be "trend-setting" brands outweighing fashion magazines such as Cosmopolitan and Elle.
Sky Sports also tops the bill among the most-talked-about media, along with Soccer AM.
Further findings from the research show that the UK's most stable brands are The Times, the Daily Telegraph, Radio Times, BBC1 and the Sunday Telegraph. The Radio Times is also viewed as the "most reliable" media brand.
The research was carried out by Millward Brown and commissioned by BSkyB, News International, Capital Radio and Zenith Media, which form the consortium behind MediaDNA, a media analysis tool that promises more effective advertising.
Millward Brown surveyed 5,000 respondents in the UK aged between 16 and 64.
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