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Television Networks Say DVRs Raise Viewership

By David Walker | November 17th, 2005 Interest Level: SMOKING HOT


tivo character logoTake it with a grain of salt, but Reuters is reporting that the major six networks have release a report indicating that the doomsday predictions brought on by the adoption of DVR technology may be premature. Many in the industry believed that the ability to skip commercials would be the death-knell of ad-supported broadcast television programming. On the contrary, the study has found that DVRs are actually increasing viewership for many shows.

Additionally, even with commercial skipping available, 58 percent of people paid attention to commercials while fast-forwarding and 53 percent actually went back to view a commercial that interested them. While DVR ownership is currently around 8 percent, that number is expected to hit 39 percent by 2010. In response, Nielsen, starting in January, will issue television ratings that include DVR playback within a day of original airing and up to seven days later.

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  • aperry
    You get points that you can use to enter drawings, and in some cases, if you have enough points, buy stuff outright. I'm currently using it to subscribe to TV Guide. You have to earn a certain number of points each 6 months to keep the subscription going...
  • What kind of rewards do you get? Sounds like a neat idea.
  • aperry
    DVR's (and my ability to zip past the commercials) has actually increased the number of shows I watch. Of course, the only way that is going to help the networks is if they have any major product placements.




    There's a site I go to called RewardTV that gives you a chance to take quizzes about shows answering the obvious stuff like what happened in the actual show, and asking about ads that ran during the broadcast.





    The interesting thing is that they also mention things about product placements (like what type of car was in the garage where Fred and Ethel were talking). If you get either ad type question correct, you get more questions you can answer about the ad or product placement.
  • David Walker
    If you've ever seen "The Truman Show", I think the television industry is quickly heading in that direction. It wasn't that long ago that Ford sponsored a "full hour" of "24" on Fox. Just so happened that you saw the Ford Mustang, F150 and other various Ford vehicles used throughout the show. Product placement in our shows is a reality. Frankly, I don't mind it, so long as it doesn't actively interfere with the quality of the shows.
  • kellywire
    I am just now looking at getting either a windows based DVR or Some kind of TIVO or Tivo like unit.

    I think I agree that DVR's will increase viewership, but not for the sake of advertisers.


    Because of Watch when you want.


    Advertisers are just going to increase product placement in the shows we record, so they will get there moneys worth while we Watch when we want.





    What do you think ?
  • Brockard
    I am not sure that I agree with reuters on this. I know from my own personal use of TIVO that I hardly ever watch commercials anymore and sense I am watching TV on my terms I am watching less TV. When I do watch a show I watch a show that I have recorded and when it is done I turn off my TV and go and surf on the computer. I do think the advertising is getting to be much more pervasive on the PC now however. I see the ads everywhere and on the Internet they are much harder to get away from. If you are wanting to see a review of something on CNET you have to watch a 30 second clip of somekind of ad. So although I feel I am better off with TV now it is getting replaced on the PC. You cant get away from it.
  • melvin
    DVRs will change things eventually. Adds will show more still images to draw your attention during fast forwarding. As well, I think you'll see less bad programming that survives just because people feel like watching something....anything. Right now, I have about 3-4 shows I record during the week, but I watch them when I feel like watching tv and would otherwise just surf through the junk.




    If I do happen a show 'live', I'll usually start 15 min late just to skip the commercials.
  • alister
    My DVR has increased my viewership :) Now when there are two shows on at the same time that I want to watch, I can just DVR one and watch it later when the crappy shows are on.....




    And before I had to chose which that one I wanted to watch the most and miss the other and try to catch it during the reruns.





    Alister
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