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Personal Video Recorders vs Ads

Posted by Hemos on from the mmmm-tivo-makes-life-better dept.

Kris_J writes "Electronic Media Online have an article about PVRs and their effect on viewing habits. Specifically it says that owners watch more TV, less ads and have less of an idea what channels they're watching. I like the last line; "The [senior advertising] executive said he had never heard of PVRs, and moreover, he wasn't interested in learning more." Good." Having owned a TiVo for about six months now, I can confirm this - my TV watching has gone up, a bit, I watch barely any ads - but I usually have a good idea which channel I'm on. CartoonNetwork has some great network promoting ads.

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  1. Here's how to answer surveys like this... by fmaxwell · · Score: 5
    This will confirm the biggest fears that the networks and advertisers have about PVRs. In the future, there will be contracts with DirecTV, Dish Network, and PVR manufacturers to assure that you cannot fast-forward over ads (no, I don't care what you can do with you linux-geek-boy-PC-PVR application). Trust me: DirecTV can afford the bandwidth to digitally mark a section of time as "no fast forward." Defeat it, and they will have you prosecuted under the DMCA.

    The correct explanation of why you got a PVR (when talking to someone doing a survey for television advertisers) is: "I sometimes miss the toll-free phone numbers on ads and wanted to be able to pause them. I also like to watch really good ads over and over. Don't you just love the Budweiser ads with the frogs and lizards? Advertising has gotten so clever..."

    Remember, the television networks took DirecTV to court to prevent DirecTV from giving subscribers network signals from stations outside of their local area. The networks are violently protective of local and national advertising revenue. Telling them that you just found a way to skip all of the ads is as clever as telling a store owner that you found a neat way to shoplift from his store (although the former is not illegal -- yet).