DVR Viewers Push Ad Ratings Higher

An anonymous reader writes "It looks like DVRs and timeshifting has finally done what many people said it would do: increased overall viewership! USA Today reports: 'Among the things the report revealed is that many DVR viewers do not fast-forward through ads. The viewer total for broadcast network ads goes up 32% when DVR watchers within three days are included, according to Nielsen. For some prime-time shows, it means that DVR viewing, long seen as a threat to advertising, could even bring higher ad prices. NBC's The Office, for example, had a live-plus-three Nielsen commercial rating of 3.36 — higher than the 3.11 it got for the week of May 6 under the traditional Nielsen program rating system.' Makes me wonder where this will lead for my favorite genre shows which by their very nature have a higher DVR component and have seen declining viewership using the older methodology (BSG, SG-1, etc)."

Comments

perhaps they are recording the ads

[Le'BottomEh]

and skipping them when they view it at a later date. That's what my friends do with their TiVo.

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[QBasicer]

I don't own a DVR, but I never bothered to fastforward during ads when watching VHS. Sometimes you saw the old commercials you remember from a long time ago, which is kinda fun...I guess.

Actually, ads don't really bother me, unless they're too redundant (same 2 ads every break, repeated once or twice during each break).

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[vux984]

the article clearly indicated that they were NOT skipping the ads.

I have a DVR, I skip a lot of the ads, but not all of them. Sometimes I *want* a break. Sometimes the commercials are entertaining.

I'm sure some people almost always skip the commercials.
I'm sure some people almost never skip the commercials.

But the bottom line is if you start looking at people with viewers, at least SOME of them will be watching the commercials. That's much 'better' than just assuming none of them ever do.

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[Anonymous Coward]

Among things the report revealed is that many DVR viewers do not fast-forward through ads. TFA says they aren't. I myself don't often skip past commercials on my TiVo. But I also am not paying attention, I'm usually doing some other thing at my computer during the commercials (much like I did before I got TiVo and had to watch everything "live")

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[Le'BottomEh]

My bad, I must have skipped that part. I would curious to know how they came to that conclusion though.

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[jellomizer]

Using a Series 1 TiVo. I do that some times but not all the time. Most of the time I just let it play threw and just Use to TiVo to record the Show for me. Skipping Commericals reqires active television watching. Most of the time I am more passive TV watching while the show I playing I do something else. I normally get a Jist of what is going on and Ill stop every once in a while to see what is happening but I am not intently watching the show. Also it depends on how much free time. If I have like 20 mintues free I can watch a quick 30 minute show in that time if I skip commericals then I do so. But if I have a lot of free time and not much else to watch after that then I let it play threw. Advertisements are not Evil, but sometimes they are annoying. I use the TiVo as a tool to make my life better. Not so I can be an Anial Hyper Liberal and put work and effort to Fast Forward threw comericals just because they are there.

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[Le'BottomEh]

I don't own a TiVo but I have friends who do. I'm glad that people find it useful. I, myself, don't really have much time to watch TV and won't go shit crazy if I miss an episode of Battlestar Galactica. When I'm actively watching a show at my friend's place, we always skip the commercials. However, you are right, if you want some background noise while you work, you probably won't care if it's commercials or not.

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[An ominous Cow art]

Before I had a DVR, I VCR-taped the few shows I watched, and fast-forwarded over the commercials. The DVR just makes it much more convenient to do so.

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[Maximum Prophet]

Your Tivo knows which parts you've fast forwarded through, and which parts you have repeated. All this info is sent back to the mother ship.

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[1u3hr]

Not so I can be an Anial Hyper Liberal and put work and effort to Fast Forward threw comericals just because they are there.

And people used to say TV rots the mind. Well, you showed them.

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[Ucklak]

(same 2 ads every break, repeated once or twice during each break).

Then you don't remember what part of the show you're FF or RW in. "Is it the beginning, middle, or ending of the show?"

In the early-mid nineties, I used to tape Eek the Cat and The Tick whilst I was at the local DZ for a morning and afternoon of jumping. I remember the ads were the same every break but the station bumpers were on a rotation. I could know where I was on the tape by the bumper placement.

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[timeOday]

I heard an NPR story on this issue. A study found not only that most DVR users do play the commercials, but even users who self-reported skipping ads always or almost always, actually watched far more ads than they thought.

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[PhrankW]

Any number of reasons for this. l. They don't know how to fast forward. 2. They are too drunk/stoned to run the fast forward. 3. They want to see the ad. 4. They so much believe in the system that they feel an obligation to view the advertisement in return for getting to watch the show. 4. The ad is running, but no one is watching; while the ad is running, they go to the bathroom, get a snack or make whoopie. (When ads run on my DVR, this is the reason. 5. They are dead. As I read the article TWO-THIRDS of viewers do skip them. Do you suppose ad rates will be reduced proportionately? Phrank

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[GIL_Dude]

I skip all the ads. Every time.

My wife skips the ads only when I remind her to; otherwise she just "zones" and watches them.

The kids are better at it; they skip too.

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[Anonymous Coward]

However, you are right, if you want some background noise while you work, you probably won't care if it's commercials or not.

Until the Vonage commercials come on...

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[alittlespice]

This is so true. Often I'm coding while the TV is on playing a DVR'd show. I usually let the commercials play but always fast forward through the irritating ones (Sympatico I'm talking to you!). Sometimes I'll even rewind to rewatch a commercial if it was funny (or the girl in it is smoking hot).

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[thePowerOfGrayskull]

I heard an NPR story on this issue. A study found not only that most DVR users do play the commercials, but even users who self-reported skipping ads always or almost always, actually watched far more ads than they thought. I've find that I sometimes start doing something else when the commercial starts... thus forgetting to skip the commercials (about half of the commercials for any given recorded show). On the other hand, I think it's safe to say that any 'high suspense' shows will have a much higher rate of skipped commercials.

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[walt-sjc]

I normally skip ads, but occasionally I just forget, and if the ad isn't totally annoying I find myself watching it until my wife reminds me to "bloop bloop bloop" (tivo 30 sec skip hack...)

What will instantly prompt me to pick up the remote and "bloop" is obnoxious ads, such as Vonage woo hoo (fuck you too) and car dealership ads. Why is it that all car dealerships have horrible obnoxious ads? Hell, they are even worse that inane ads for "hot pockets" or tampons...

If we could thumb up or down ads as we watch, maybe we would get better quality ads.

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[Bobartig]

Me and my girlfriend are aggressive "Always skip the Ads" people. Mainly because we are impatient and want to watch more TV in less time. When we go other places that have TV's (and at some point play ads), we're constantly like "What the hell is that?" because we watch so few ads now, and some of them are freakishly weird the first few times you see them.

And then people we know will say 'you know that ad where [insert ad description here]?' and we always say 'we don't watch ads...' they always stare at us like we have a second head or something (as if ad skipping DVR's weren't 5+ years old).

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[Spy Hunter]

I will often watch ads if they are in HD and have high production values. I have my finger on the 30-second-skip button, but many ads are funny and interesting and I have no problem with that (some ads are better than the shows they sponsor). I'll even rewind to the beginning of an ad if it looks interesting, like the Apple ads. I also notice that I'm more likely to watch the first commercial of a break, since if the ad is good I get "hooked" before I have time to think about the skip button.

Broadcasters simply need to learn that the days where you could show the same ad 8 times during the same program are over. Good riddance to that ridiculous practice. Make the ads attractive, novel, funny, and not too numerous, and I'll gladly watch them in payment for good programming.

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[damiangerous]

TiVo collects aggregate non-personal data like that, it's in their privacy policy, so I'm sure most other non-homebuilt DVRs do the same. That's why right after the Superbowl they can tell you which commercials were replayed the most

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[martyb]

Not so I can be an Anial Hyper Liberal and put work and effort to Fast Forward threw comericals just because they are there.

And people used to say TV rots the mind. Well, you showed them.

Heh. I was thinking the same thing! Now, if he had had something like this, it would have been an all-together different think: Ant pee pull yews twos hay tea vee wroughts dumb hind. Wail, ewe sloughed 'hem. :)

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[Nqdiddles]

Reminds me of a poster for newspaper advertising I saw once.
A man and a woman getting it on on the couch in front of the tv. The caption read "Current advertising research says these people are watching your ad. Who's really getting screwed?"

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[JATMON]

I usually do the same thing but something I go a little further. I will not only fast forward through the annoying commercials but when I have recorded a baseball game I usually start getting annoyed with the announcers and I will start fast forwarded between pitches so that I do not have to listen to the them.

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[PhrankW]

It's the old line I heard while working for an ad agency: "The only thing that agencies can prove they have sold is the idea that advertising works." (LOL at your response by the way) Phrank

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[misleb]

As I read the article TWO-THIRDS of viewers do skip them. Do you suppose ad rates will be reduced proportionately?

It sounds like somebody is putting some serious spin on the numbers. Like they aren't looking at percentages. They're just talking about the raw numbers in their their samples. They take X number of non-DVR watching viewers (traditional Nielsen ratings), assume they're all watching the ads, add in the 1 third of DVR users who *aren't* skipping ads, and call that a net gain for advertisers. WTF? Isn't it obvious that any number of DVR ad skippers means a net ad viewing loss when you apply the percentages to the general population? Or is there something I'm missing? Are they saying that DVRs increase total viewership such that the two thirds of users who do skip ads don't cause a net ad viewing loss?

Though, I must admit that I hope that the advertisers are getting duped. Not because I have anything against them. It is just that the longer they believe that traditioanl advertising works.... the longer my blocking/skipping will remain effective and legal.

-matthew

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[misleb]

I use the TiVo as a tool to make my life better.

My life is much better since I started indiscrimnately blocking/skipping advertisements. Same thing with SPAM and email. Once I took the time to implement a really good spamassassin filter, my life got better.

. I use the TiVo as a tool to make my life better. Not so I can be an Anial Hyper Liberal and put work and effort to Fast Forward threw comericals just because they are there.

Work and effort? I just download the shows from bittorrent where someone else has already cut out the commercials. And when I was using MythTV to record them myself, Myth automatically skipped the commercials for me. But then, I'm an anal liberal who just wants to block/skip commercials "just because they are there." Though I'm not sure what it is has to do with being "liberal." Do conservatives somehow enjoy selling bits and pieces of their mind/soul to advertisers? Is watching advertisements a "family value?"

Frankly, I'm baffled by anyone who willingly sits through advertisements when skipping them is so easy these days. Is the programming that ya'll watch just so empty and shallow that advertising is just as entertaining? WTF?

It isn't just about idealism, either. You can save a very significant amount of time by skipping ads. 1 hour shows become 40 minute shows. 30 minute shows become 20 minute shows. Not to mention the beneficial effect it has on attention span.

-matthew

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[PhrankW]

Matthew--your point about the large--but declining--number of people who watch TV "live" is valid. However, exposure to ads does not guarantee attention. And attention does not guarantee acceptance or even consideration of their message. It is for this reason that the value of advertising is highly problematic. Does anyone with an IQ higher than kale still BELIEVE anything an advertiser says (beyond the probably valid concept this product or service exists)? Phrank

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[Archangel_Azazel]

--If we could thumb up or down ads as we watch, maybe we would get better quality ads.--

I'm suddenly struck with the "Why didn't I think of that?" thought. Is there any hope that one important person read this???

A.A

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[Anonymous Coward]

With TiVo [and likely all DVRs], you don't record the show without the ads. You record the show with the ads, and skip over whtever you don't want to watch.

I wonder if the Nielsen people know who is watching the ads, and who is fast forwarding through them?

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[Anonymous Coward]

You forgot number 6. They have given up trying, because the last 3 times they tried the stupid dvr comcast gave them locked up and fast forward all the way to the end, forcing them to begin watching from the start again.

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[jellomizer]

This is a joke right?

You seem to have spend days of work and completely realtered your life, just to avoid seeing adds, you are spending your relaxation time to avoid watching adds. You are on a major quest to save the world from something that is not a real threat.

Conservatives normally realize that TV Adds do help pay for the cost of the Show we watch. They are normally annoyed that they are paying money for say Cable TV and still having adds but in general they see adds as a way to keep costs down for them. Without add supported services you will need to pay extra for every service you do. Slashdot will not be able to operate, ABC, CBS, NBC, Even PBS (With their adds being fund drives, annoying you while they seem to play their best shows, that they never show unless there is a fund drive) Radio Stations too need advertisements.

But don't think I am for Viral Advertisment like SPAM, Billboards, where the only people who benefit are the advertisers and not the general public.

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[Kris Thalamus]

Spam is not a form of viral marketing.

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[jotok]

I spent days of work--not sure what "completely altered your life" means, I mean, I'm not a woman all of a sudden--because I found building a DVR to be interesting and challenging. It also carried many benefits, such as the fact that I don't have to sit through advertisements. Since I am already paying for cable, there is absolutely no reason that I should have to watch advertisements as well, except that the cable companies decided they wanted yet more money. So, fuck them. Myth zips through ads automagically. And what I bittorent is also ad-free.

Also can you explain this to me: "In order to not have to watch ads, you spend your relaxation time not watching ads." What?

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[misleb]

You seem to have spend days of work and completely realtered your life, just to avoid seeing adds, you are spending your relaxation time to avoid watching adds. You are on a major quest to save the world from something that is not a real threat.

No, I installed MythTV to get DVR capabilities which also happens to have commercial auto-skip as a feature. The time I have saved by skipping ads easily makes up for the time spent setting up the DVR. 10 minutes here, 20 minutes there really adds up quickly.

As for internet ads, I simply intalled AdBlock Plus and subscribed to the standard block lists, et voila, virtual ad-free internet. Couldn't be happier.

And so what if I did spend some relaxation time setting it up? a) That kind of thing interests me. That is, tinkering with Linux and OSS, b) not seeing ads really is that important to me. Maybe it seems strange to you, but I can't stand having my shows interrupted every 5 minutes. It ruins the shows for me. Especially towards the end of the show when commercial breaks get longer and longer because they know they have you "hooked"... You can only go to the bathroom so many times or make so many sandwhiches before you're just stuck there watching that mindless drivel called advertisements.

But come to think of it, I did kind of rearrange my life. But in a totally good way. I stopped sitting down to channel surf for hours at a time. Without ad skipping, I'd switch channels during commercial breaks and look for somethign else to watch. Now I just sit down and watch the few shows that I actually like, skip the ads (saving nearly cutting time spent watching by 33%), and go do something either more productive or more interesting.

Conservatives normally realize that TV Adds do help pay for the cost of the Show we watch.

Everyone realizes that. But we're under no obligation to actually watch them. If you think you are, you're a fool. It has nothing to do with politics.

But don't think I am for Viral Advertisment like SPAM, Billboards, where the only people who benefit are the advertisers and not the general public.

Spam is not viral advertisement. Viral advertisement is when someone makes an ad that people pass on to their friends. Billboards get people to buy stuff and therefore spur the economy. Doesn't tht benefit the general public? Why don't you make a point of looking at every billboard? It might prompt you to buy something and help some business make money and pay employees. Wouldn't that generous of you.

-matthew

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[NoMaster]

Days of work/effort, and completely altering his life, just to skip ads? Did you read the same post I did?

Here's a story: a few years ago I bought a PVR. Apart from the effort needed to get an EPG running (which is a result of the fscked-up legal system and hidebound TV networks here - not even MS could beat them!), it takes no effort at all - the machine records what I want to watch, and when I get a chance I sit down and watch it. About 5 times in an hour long program, I press a button a few times to skip the ads.

Not that I always skip the ads - sometimes during a program I'll think of something quick that needs doing, in which case I'll let the ads run.

Something funny happened the other night though. I happened to step away from studying just as 'Jericho' started, so I sat down and watched it. Each time an ad break started I subconsciously reached for the remote, only to remember I was watching live TV.

I drank more coffee in that hour than I had in the previous 2 days. It occurs to me now that I must be getting old - I forgot about pausing/timeslipping...

BT is almost as easy - a couple of minutes on TPB, a few hours to download (yeah, I'm on 256k DSL), and I've got 40 minutes of fresh-that-day ad free program to watch.

So, back to the hoary old 'but ads pay for the content - so if you skip ads, you're stealing, and the poor content provider will go broke' argument. There's lots of arguments against that, but ultimately they all boil down to the same thing - 'So what if they do? Why is that my problem?".

Doesn't economics as a science <spit!> tell us that where there's a need, someone will step in to fill that need? If people are actively skipping ads, doesn't that indicate there's a need for ad-(free||reduced) content? Why should the market be distorted to prevent that need being met, just so that incumbents can continue without meeting that need?

(Buggy-whip makers are the stereotypical example that's always spouted - I can only assume it's the example given in some countrywide junior high textbook. Time to start thinking - who's the buggy-whip maker in this scenario?)

If my business model was dependant upon not pissing people off so I could sell their eyeball or mind space to others, I'd be doing my damnedest not to piss them off - not trying to socially engineer some econo-fascist system where "you vill vatch ze ads!". But, then again, I'm not a megalith driven by the overwhelming purpose of profit at all costs - I'm somewhat smaller and more complicated than that...

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[camperdave]

Is there any hope that one important person read this???

Well, I read it. I'm important, and witty, and honest, and industrious, and gentle, and self-deluded, and humble.

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[Anonymous Coward]

Especially forget to skip ads while stoned.

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[shellbeach]

I have a DVR, I skip a lot of the ads, but not all of them. Sometimes I *want* a break. Oh, you mean like ... using the pause button???

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[vux984]

No. Actually, I find pausing vs just letting a commercial break run are quite different.

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[RespekMyAthorati]

Too late. I just filed a patent on "Up-Down Thumb Rating for DVR Commercial Rating".

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[RespekMyAthorati]

I see your Vonage and raise you two HeadOn's.

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[RespekMyAthorati]

You seem to have spend days of work and completely realtered your life, just to avoid seeing adds, you are spending your relaxation time to avoid watching adds. You are on a major quest to save the world from something that is not a real threat.

WTF?

Conservatives normally realize ...

Whatever FOX tells them to realize!

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[RespekMyAthorati]

Does anyone with an IQ higher than kale still BELIEVE anything an advertiser says?

I don't believe them either.
--- kale

Re:perhaps they are recording the ads

[PhrankW]

LOL, GREAT. I, too, live to amuse and hit the "mute" (pronounced mutt) button when an ad appears. Phrank

I think most DVR users don't fast forward.

[rsvedersky]

Most of the DVR users I know seem to "forget" that they can fast forward and its not an issue. What I can't wait for is when viewership is actually tracked instead of by some representative selection of people who never seem to like the shows I like.

Re:I think most DVR users don't fast forward.

[Marty200]

I can see the forgetting bit. If I can pause and go get a snack or got to the bathroom anytime I want, I'll probably not thing about skipping the commercials.

MG

Re:I think most DVR users don't fast forward.

[DoohickeyJones]

That happens with me, half the time.

I'll be halfway through a commercial break, decide I need a snack or something, and catch myself trying to guess if I have enough time before the commercials are over. (Doh!)

That is when I'll remember I'm watching a recording, and pause it, then fast forward through the rest of the commercial break when I get back. Otherwise, I tend to just let them run.

Re:I think most DVR users don't fast forward.

[flanksteak]

I do something similar, and it makes me wonder sometimes just how my brain works.

When I'm watching a recording on the DVR, I often forget to FF through the ads,

but,

when I'm watching something live, I almost always instantly reach for the remote to try to FF, only to be informed by the tv that I can't.

sheesh.

Re:I think most DVR users don't fast forward.

[XxtraLarGe]

When I'm watching a recording on the DVR, I often forget to FF through the ads This is nothing new. I do the same thing on this old device called a VCR. My wife's always yelling at me "You can fast forward, you know!" I'm not sure what it is, but I think there's something subliminally appealing about advertisements that make you want to watch them, even when you don't have to.

Re:I think most DVR users don't fast forward.

[Scrameustache]

Most of the DVR users I know seem to "forget" that they can fast forward and its not an issue. What I can't wait for is when viewership is actually tracked instead of by some representative selection of people who never seem to like the shows I like. I watch shows on DVD, and sometimes I wish that there was a commercial in there, so I can sit and digest the big shocking reveal that just occurred without being distracted with technicalities like finding the remote and the pause button.

Then again, I also watch regular broadcast TV, I wish I never had to switch channel to avoid an annoying ad for something I'll never ever even consider buying.

The lesson is: Choice is good, anti-skip is evil.

Re:I think most DVR users don't fast forward.

[wikdwarlock]

My experience w/ a DVR is just the opposite, and is telling of how much I, and our culture, equate the real world to TV. I've found that since getting a DVR, I am inclined to rewind to make sure I heard something correctly, to laugh at someone picking their nose in an audience, to give myself extra time to solve the final Wheel of Fortune puzzle, etc. I skip as many ads as I can when we've partially recorded a show, and get miffed when I see the dreaded "Live Tv" message on screen. Ads in fully recorded shows are almost universally skipped unless they happen to contain something interesting to catch my eye in the half second of them I see as they're skipped. Furthermore, when I now listen to the radio, I find myself wanting to rewind it to hear the part of the traffic report I missed while not paying full attention. I also want to rewind conversations I've just had with people to recall what was said. The DVR experience of being able to pause, rewind, etc, has become so integral to my TV watching that it has bled over into other parts of my life where content is perhaps not fully registered on first "viewing". In my personal experience, the DVR fundamentally changes TV into an active process and affects how I look at other things as well.

Re:I think most DVR users don't fast forward.

[DrEldarion]

I do fast forward most of the time, but sometimes during that fast forwarding I will actually stop and rewind an ad that grabs my eye.

To me, this shows that people will watch well-made commercials. (Witness: Superbowl commercials. People love them.)

Re:I think most DVR users don't fast forward.

[R3d M3rcury]

I'm one of those people who actually does skip the ads--most of the time. The reason I do this is to watch a 21 or 42 minute program versus a half-hour or hour program.

My DVR does not have a "jump" button, though. It has a Fast-Forward. In fact, it has three fast-forward speeds which appear, from the time-stamps, to be 2x, 10x, and 30x. 30x is a little fast--I need to be on my toes. 2x is a little slow. 10x is just about right and I tend to use that one.

What's interesting is that occasionally an ad will catch my eye. I will stop, go back, and watch it. I was thinking that this may mean the advertisers start building ads and buying ad time in order to catch our eyes as we fast-forward through. The little 15 second ads will probably disappear. You might see more 60 second ads being sold (at 10x, that gives 6 impressions to make me go "Whoa, what was that?") with more stunning visuals to catch the eye of the fast-forwarder.

In other words, I think the advertising world will adapt.

Re:I think most DVR users don't fast forward.

[BattleApple]

The DVR experience of being able to pause, rewind, etc, has become so integral to my TV watching that it has bled over into other parts of my life where content is perhaps not fully registered on first "viewing".

I often find myself reaching toward my car stereo to rewind something I missed.

Re:I think most DVR users don't fast forward.

[veganboyjosh]

It's not like they're researched, designed, and developed to make you feel good...

Re:I think most DVR users don't fast forward.

[veganboyjosh]

I seem to recall hearing something about ad agencies designing ads that work well at 1x speed as well as others, for specifically this reason. I think it was on /. at that. Someone else will have to come up with a link, cos I don't think I RTFA...it is /. after all.

Re:I think most DVR users don't fast forward.

[Belial6]

I tend to let the commercials go, as I use the TV as background noise. The TV also acts like the chimes of a clock for me. I subconsciously track time with it.

I actually have found that if I see a really good commercial, I will save the program to show my wife. It still amazes me that every commercial ever made is not available for live streaming over the internet. Why oh why would a company not want people to go out of their way to watch their commercials?

Re:I think most DVR users don't fast forward.

[Bobartig]

When the 'dreaded' live tv appears (ok, we have IPTV, but it has a live tv buffer all the same), we just pause the tv for about 10 minutes and read/browse until we've cached up enough to skip the rest of the ads. If its a movie (= more ads), we might fix a meal, do some chores, or play video games for half an hour so we can skip them later.

Re:I think most DVR users don't fast forward.

[Chaswell]

I have a similar problem. In real life I'll wish to fast forward some event or boring moment. My wife and I make a click-click sound when we want to remind the other to fast forward during a commercial.

I got smacked the other day when a pastor at church was saying a very long prayer and I "click-click'ed" under my breath and my wife heard it.

As far as actual Tivo and ad's. I really like commercials I have not seen before and will often watch them on purpose, they rarely ever get a second viewing though. I actually think the quality of ad's have gone up recently. This of course only goes for prime time national ads. Local ads and off hour commercials are pathetic.

Re:I think most DVR users don't fast forward.

[misleb]

When the 'dreaded' live tv appears (ok, we have IPTV, but it has a live tv buffer all the same), we just pause the tv for about 10 minutes and read/browse until we've cached up enough to skip the rest of the ads. If its a movie (= more ads), we might fix a meal, do some chores, or play video games for half an hour so we can skip them later.

At some point I lost all interest in "live" TV at all and simply queued up a whole bunch of shows and watched them whenever I had time. That way i didnt' have to pause and let the show go "ahead." Once you break free from the often inconvenient TV Guide scheduling, you never want to go back. Now I never miss an episode of a a series that I like and I don't waste my time watching shows that are only "OK" because they just happen to be on at the time I'm sitting down.

Eventually I just gave up on cable all together and just started downloading the shows via bittorrrent. If I'm just going to watch prerecorded shows and skip all the commercials anyway, why bother paying for cable TV? What's the difference?

-matthew

Re:I think most DVR users don't fast forward.

[pipingguy]

I also want to rewind conversations I've just had with people to recall what was said.

Was this a reading comprehension test or an example of how badly excessive TV-watching can cripple a mind?

Re:I think most DVR users don't fast forward.

[RespekMyAthorati]

My DVR does not have a "jump" button

What kind of DVR is yours? The remotes that come with most satellite receivers don't explicitly have a Jump button, but can be programmed to do that anyway.

And they know this...how?

[Ngarrang]

And just how do they know that DVRs are not skipping commercials? I do not see a reference in the article to specific DVRs that would report such a thing back to Nielson.

The commercials can usually be ignored when the show is finally watched or burned to DVD, right? The DVRs I see advertised all seem to offer this feature. I am looking to buy a combo DVD/VHS/DVR this year, so this feature sounds remotely useful to save DVD space. More shows per DVD!

Re:And they know this...how?

[BosstonesOwn]

I often thought of that same thing , how can they track what I watch and what I do. I realized that i have digital cable and satellite. And both can hold searchs and stuff in memory , plus every digital cable box asks the head end for a key to the channel.

My assumption is that my dvr and cables boxes are telling comcast what I do. Which I wouldn't mind if it helps keep my favorite shows on.

I think Tivo can do the same. I had a Tivo connected to the net to retrieve it's guide info and I realized it must be tracking me , it started recommending shows and such for me. What I wasd a little ticked off about is it didn't seperate the users.

After using the Tivo for a couple weeks before giving in and turning it over to my wife , it must have determined me to be gay after 3 months of use. I came home to episodes of shows like queer eye for the straight guy , queer as folk , oz and other shows from lifetime like designing women.

None the less I feel this is how they track some. It could log all the button presses and errors to try and make it a better product , and a side affect is that it tracks your usage.

Re:And they know this...how?

[Lockejaw]

And just how do they know that DVRs are not skipping commercials? I do not see a reference in the article to specific DVRs that would report such a thing back to Nielson.

Nielson's typical measurement processes are 1) having subjects keep detailed logs of their watching and 2) installing their own monitoring systems on subjects' TV sets.

Re:And they know this...how?

[Otter]

I often thought of that same thing , how can they track what I watch and what I do.

Nielsen has no idea what you are doing. They recruit viewers who install special monitoring equipment and/or keep diaries and extrapolate that to the overall population.

Re:And they know this...how?

[LMacG]

Tell me Joey, do you like . . . gladiator movies?

Re:And they know this...how?

[Otter]

Forgot to add: Tivo tracks what you watch, comes up with preferences for you and reports data back. There are quite a few complaints about it deciding viewers are gay -- there are several possible conclusions one might make about that. Deliberately watching lots of ESPN and Spike to reset it doesn't seem to help.

Re:And they know this...how?

[drinkypoo]

Forgot to add: Tivo tracks what you watch, comes up with preferences for you and reports data back. There are quite a few complaints about it deciding viewers are gay -- there are several possible conclusions one might make about that.

Now now, what it actually decides is that viewers watch the same things that gay people do. That's not the same conclusion. Based on the conclusion it does come to, it makes poor assumptions about what you want to watch, probably because certain factors aren't weighted heavily enough, or vice versa, or both.

Personally this gives me a little hope. Whether it shows that straights and gays aren't that different (they all watch the same craptacular media) or that most straights have a little gay in them (no pun intended) it gives me some hope for a reconciliation between sexual orientations.

Re:And they know this...how?

[Iron Chef Unix]

TiVo does indeed track what you do and when. You can opt out of this, but by default it anonymously tracks your viewing.

Case in point: During the Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction" debacle, I recall reading that TiVo reported statistics on how many times TiVo owners skipped back to re-watch the incident.

Re:And they know this...how?

[BosstonesOwn]

Only the ones with big hulking men and long bathing scenes....ahhh damn I may be gay !

Re:And they know this...how?

[Profane MuthaFucka]

Yes, that's what they do. TiVo data from a few years back indicated that on average TiVo owners were watching the superbowl Victoria's Secret commercial multiple times. They could even tell which tit shots appealed to the most viewers. It's easy to think that they could tell which parts of a particular recording were played, how often, and what parts were or were not skipped.

Re:And they know this...how?

[Ucklak]

Becuase watching the Logo channel does not make one gay.

Re:And they know this...how?

[blutfort]

There's a LOGO channel! I've been looking for some new turtle graphics routines.

Re:And they know this...how?

[DDLKermit007]

Meh, I skip roughly 80% of all commercials. It's the benefit to owning a Replay. The earlier units have a fairly nice auto commercial skip. Gets annoying with shows like Lost where I have to turn it off since it'll skip during the actual show due to the wild changes in video lighting cuts, and volume.

Ads

[Vexor]

Ads are used for a lot of stuff. They give you a chance to grab another beverage, run to the bathroom, and so on. These people are probably not viewing them (exception being a particularly funny ad). The better answer might even be they can't find the fast foward button or the pause(for when they do need to get up) on their jumbo multiuse remotes.

Re:Ads

[porcupine8]

I've been watching TV shows on DVD recently, and I keep waiting for a commercial so I can feed the dogs, go to the bathroom, etc. Sometimes if the dogs are really insistent on going out I even get up and still forget to pause it, and get annoyed that I have to miss some key part...

Re:Ads

[Vexor]

I'm into the TV shows on DVD over a DVR personally. I too forget I can pause sometimes especially when the pets are getting pushy. I hate missing key plot elements. I think we as humans have just trained ourselves to wait for the ads to get our business done.

Why only 3 days?

[gtwreck]

If they are going to change their methadology to include DVR statistics, why do they limit it to 3 days? I watch 95% of my non-live-sports TV on DVR, and most of the time I'm about 5-7 days behind. There must be some industry reason for the 3 day number- is somebody aware of the reason for that number?

Also, are Dish and DirecTV users still left out of Nielson ratings?

Re:Why only 3 days?

[ajanp]

"Live-plus-three" is basically an agreement between broadcasters and advertisers to agree to count viewers who watch the show within a 72 hour time period. It's pretty recent and it's being used nowadays due to the increasing number of viewers who watch shows via TiVO, DVR (I forget the exact number, but it's between 15-20% of American households now own a DVR), iPOD downloads, web broadcasts, etc.

Generally, adverstisers prefer to use "live" to determine rates (some commercials like movie releases can have less of an impact after time passes), broadcasters prefer "live-plus-seven", so I think "live-plus-three" became the compromise to include those people who do watch the show, but just aren't able to watch it live.

I'm not in that industry, but it seems like a pretty decent compromise (and I believe it's quickly becoming the new standard when negotiating ad rates) given the availability of recording devices and the significant amount of delayed viewing that occurs.

Re:Why only 3 days?

[68th Overlord]

The reason I've seen claimed is that a substantial percentage of commercials are for date-limited sales, and so the commercials are essentially perishable.

It doesn't make so much sense to me either. Most commercials don't actually seem to be date-sensitive, and even those that are would still aid brand recognition and could lead to sales. The whole idea could be nothing more than a tactic to keep ad view numbers, and thus ad costs, down.

Re:Why only 3 days?

[KansasorPat]

From the story: "About 95% of all broadcast prime-time DVR viewing is done within three days of the live telecast, according to Nielsen." Either Nielsen doesn't know people like you or you are part of the 5%.

Re:Why only 3 days?

[HistoricPrizm]

I can think of two reasons.

1) Time-sensitive commercials (probably not a great percentage, but still)

2) Most people (yourself not included, obviously) probably watch their recorded shows within 3 days. They had to cut it off somewhere.

Re:Why only 3 days?

[TMarvelous]

I work in ad sales. Nielsen is offering Live, Live +same day, Live +1, +3, and +7 feeds. They also are releasing a beta of Commercial Minute Ratings where they measure every minute of every hour and can therefore tell advertisers how many eyeballs were actually watching their spots. The DVR feeds have been in beta for over a year and advertising agencies and tv nets all contributed feedback to get it to a place they were content with. All that said, a lot of advertisers won't accept a network telling them that ratings were higher three days later. Movie Studios and Retailers advertise date specific, usually heavier on Thursdays to drive weekend sales. The extra viewers of these spots 3 days later is wasted and the advertisers won't pay more for them. It's an ongoing battle in the industry.

Re:Why only 3 days?

[mooingyak]

I'm curious if they'll try to work out some kind of system where they'll be able to have one ad on the live show and a different one on the DVR.

Personal Experience

[neersign]

I know that I personally do fast forward thru most ads when wawtching a program on my DVR, but I do often stop and rewind to watch a particular advert. Sometimes its just because something looked funny other times it is genuine interest in the subject. I'd definitely say that it does make my overall experience more pleasurable as I never have to watch one of those "make me want to slit my wrists" Head-On commercials ever again.

Re:Personal Experience

[Shabbs]

Same here. But even when we're FF'ing through the commercials, we're still getting a gist of what is being advertised, since we've all seen the commercials before and recognize them. I know when we FF, sometimes I'll comment to my wife "Oh man that commercial is funny." And sometimes I'll even rewind just to see it again for laughs.

I'm curious as to how they find out this info. Do they just call people up and ask if they saw the commercial during such and such episode and if they were using a PVR or watching real time? Do they ask if they were FF'ing at the time or were they watching it in regular speed? I've never been contacted by these guys so I have no idea what they ask to determine viewer ratings. I've always been curious as to how it all works out. Perhaps someone can shed some light, since I'm too busy FF'ing to Google for it. ;)

Cheers.

Re:Personal Experience

[SQLGuru]

I agree.....watch the show but skip most ads, watch the ones that are different or interesting. The only problem I have is that by watching some of the same shows (especially those that are new and syndicated at the same time), they don't hit the right demographic. I watch a lot of Law & Order....and there's a marathon on USA like every two or three days it seems. There is almost never an ad that appeals to me....and usually it's the same ones for each episode. Those, I skip. The new ads during first run show....I tend to watch those....They appeal to me more.

Layne

Bias....

[packetmon]

Nielsen's new commercial data include an average viewer total for all of a show's commercials when it airs, as well as averages for those who watch commercials on a DVR up to seven days later. Did it occur to Nielen that it probably takes users a little longer to get use to the new functions on a DVR so they likely haven't even understood the concept "Oh man you mean I don't have to watch commercials!". I'd like to see them re-take these numbers in 3 month intervals and watch those numbers drop like the stock market during the dotcom depression

Re:Bias....

[mcmonkey]

Did it occur to Nielen that it probably takes users a little longer to get use to the new functions on a DVR so they likely haven't even understood the concept "Oh man you mean I don't have to watch commercials!".

I think they're talking about 7 days after the program is recorded, not 7 days after getting a DVR. I also think most DVR users have seen (and maybe even own) a VCR, so they're probably familiar with the 'fast forward' concept.

I'd say marketing folks might be interested in DVR-use trends and how ads get viewed weeks and months after the original airing, but seeing how many DVDs come with 'now in theatres' commercials, marketing folks have the long term memory of a goldfish and have no idea what is this '3 month' thing you speak of.

Re:Bias....

[Irish_Samurai]

Did it occur to you that DVR technology is not anywhere close to new and that people already get the idea. Hell, the concept of fast forwarding was pretty much introduced with the VCR.

Re:Bias....

[KansasorPat]

Also people are lazy and have been lazy since the invent of the fast forward button which other point out was long ago not just with the DVR. I know my parents mostly forget to fast forward through comercials and they've had a DVR for almost a year now. Even my tech savy friend that has a DVR won't fast forward even when he sees an add for Christmas when it is May. TV viewing is a time to relax and not a time to sit there with the remote in hand just waiting for the next commercial to fast forward through.

What's the point...

[Anonymous Coward]

What's the point of having a DVR if you don't forward through the ads? I love my tivo....wait 20 minutes if I want to watch something 'live', turn the TV on, watch show without ads. Or wait until I want to watch said show, and then watch without ads.

I guess I just don't get it.

Re:What's the point...

[Aladrin]

Well, the -original- point of dvr/pvr was that you could watch your show later, without having to be tied to the TV at certain times. Some of us actually use it that, and the ad-skipping is a bonus.

Re:What's the point...

[packetmon]

Shame on you. I'm reporting you to the RIAA/MPAA for not watching commercials you illegal recorder you

Re:What's the point...

[T.E.D.]

Well, for those of us who have lives outside of the house or, God help us, kids, there's lots of point to it. I don't have to schedule my social life around my favorite shows anymore. This is the killer-app part of TiVo. The whole power relationship between me and my television has been turned totally on its head, and now I'm the one in control.

If I want to go have dinner on Monday evening, I don't have to worry about missing Heroes. Its there waiting for me whenever I do have time. If I have another show I want to watch during Deadwood or The Daily Show, I just tell TiVo to record the midnight showing for me while I'm sleeping. When a kid has a needy moment during a show (or the climax of The Big Game), they no longer get screamed at. I or my wife can just pause the show and go clean the poo off the mirror, fish the cat out of the toilet, or whatever the latest emergency is.

As for commercials, I do fast forward through some of them, but I'll happily stop and watch entertaining ones. Movie trailers and the Mac/PC ads are typical examples of commercials I stop and watch. Even the fast-forwarded commercials aren't a total loss for the advertisers though. I have to pay enough attention to the images flashing by to identify them as not belonging to my show or a commercial I might like. Typically, that means I at least identify the product being pumped. Half a second of mind-space is better for them than none at all (which is what they'd have if I was in the bathroom instead).

Everyone shut up

[Anonymous Coward]

Why is everyone posting here to criticize these results? Do you *want* the networks to keep trying to restrict DVRs?

Amazing

[Xenna]

So I must be the only person who consistently skips all ads? Is there something wrong with me or with the rest of the world. Or - perhaps - is this just another example of wishful thinking like when illegal mp3 downloads actually boosted sales...

I haven't bought a CD since... ;)

X.

Re:Amazing

[NoMaster]

You are not alone...

On the other hand, while I haven't given up totally on buying CDs, the number I've bought has certainly dropped since Napster et. al. It'd be hard to tell why if you were taking me as a single data point - the .mp3 revolution occurred at about the same time I realised 99% of current music was crap, I'd bought 99% of the back-catalogue I wanted, and I got sick of paying $30 for 1 good track + 1 mediocre track + 30+ minutes of crap - but what it has done is made me much much choosier.

Nowadays I'll fire up a BT client, search for the artist I want, pick 1 or 2 tracks I want plus a couple of others (based on titles - there's a clue there for the record industry!), and download/listen to them. If I like all I hear, I'll go buy the CD - if not, I'll keep the 1 or 2 tracks I wanted and ditch the rest.

It's rather telling that I've bought ... ummm, 3? ... CDs in the last 2 years. 1 of them just happened to be Top 40 at the time (damn my liking for girlie-pop-punk!), another was a collection of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos (bought after downloading the .flacs from BT - i.e. I had no technical/quality reason for buying it!). I don't even remember what the other was, but it was probably disappointing...

Personally I agree

[Orig_Club_Soda]

My own habits show that I DVR shows that are in same time slot as my preferred show and that when I watch the records, I do not skip the commercials very much. (I am usually working or surfing while they are on). I am effectively watching more TV than if recording was banned.

And maybe its just me, but I also goto URLs show in commercials just to see whats there.

Additionally, although I may keep a season of something for a while, I delete it ultimately because disk space is too expensive for casual viewing.

Re:Personally I agree

[SQLGuru]

I watch more TV with my laptop open than without. Go to those URLs. Look up what else an actor might have been in. Check out Slashdot. Play "brain dead" games like Poker or non-twitch, non-timed games. That's my idea of interactive TV.

Layne

some dvrs dont skip adds?

[icebones]

I had no idea that some DVRs wouldn't FF thorough adds. I hope my cable company never "upgrades" to one. It's reached the point that when i actually do watch a show when it airs, I get annoyed that I can't FF through the commercials. The only time i let the comercials run on something I've recorded is when i need to get up for a minute.

Re:some dvrs dont skip adds?

[zippthorne]

There's a trick to this: don't ever start watching shows when they start. Most shows have about 46 minutes of actual show to the hour, so if you start watching 15 minutes in, you'll finish at roughly the same time.

Re:some dvrs dont skip adds?

[icebones]

yeah, i know, i do that a lot of times, but there are times i just sit down and search throught the guide till i find something im interested in; history channel, discovery etc. I'm never gonna record these shows, but i do watch them from time to time. It's a funny feeling to try to fast forward a show thats live and you try to figure out whats wrong with the remote b4 realizing it's live.

Re:some dvrs dont skip adds?

[Profane MuthaFucka]

Some people apparently like watch the Bowflex commercials over and over and over again. I would, if the actors were naked and fucking each other. But they are not naked, so am not interested. I am glad to have TiVo.

Re:some dvrs dont skip adds?

[99BottlesOfBeerInMyF]

I had no idea that some DVRs wouldn't FF thorough adds. I hope my cable company never "upgrades" to one.

Don't just hope, do something. The cable company wants you to watch as many ads as possible because it makes them money. Relying on them to provide you with a box to let you skip ads is a pretty poor strategy. Their plan is to make you watch absolutely as many ads as possible through disabling features that will let you skip them, without motivating you to move to another vendor for your DVR. Worse, the price they charge you for your DVR is usually subsidized by overcharging you for cable service, thus allowing them to seem cheaper than competitors, while really providing themselves with a quasi-legal (probably illegal) subsidy. They'll keep this up until they've driven competitors out of business, then they'll raise prices.

Their strategy works because they plan for the long term and consumers like you do not. If you don't switch at the first sign of the cable co acting against your interests, they'll just keep crippling the box more and more. They'll disable allowing your system to archive to DVD and export to mpeg for your laptop and video ipod. They'll disable commercial skipping and fast forward either all the time or for select shows. They'll disable time shifting for certain "premium" shows. Don't wait until you can't stand it, because by then it may be too late and they will have driven competitors out of business and undermined FCC rules so they can keep competitors from returning.

Re:some dvrs dont skip adds?

[veganboyjosh]

by Profane MuthaFucka (574406) * Alter Relationship busheatskok@gmail.com on Friday June 01, @12:24PM (#19355087) (http://www.stileproject.com/ | Last Journal: Wednesday May 30, @09:04AM) Some people apparently like watch the Bowflex commercials over and over and over again. I would, if the actors were naked and fucking each other.

Somedays the jokes just write themselves.

Re:some dvrs dont skip adds?

[Profane MuthaFucka]

Actually, I wrote that. It didn't write itself.

ads?

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't have a TiVo or DVR, but whenever the show goes to a commercial I mute the TV and more or less bury my face behind my computer screen so I don't even have to LOOK at the adverts. If I want to find out something about a product, I'll look it up on teh intarwebs, I don't need it to be flashed in my face every 8 minutes.

DVR

[LordPhantom]

Being an avid DVR-er, my habits are as follows:

1) Start of commercial - hit fast forward 2) Skip back if/when I see something I'm looking for, or a funny looking add 3) Miss the start of the show, curse comcast for not having "skip ahead 30seconds" (I miss my Dish DVR :( ) 4) rewind 5) start watching show (with 5 seconds of last add)

In many ways, DVRs are doing to TV what the internet has done to "print" adds. In most papers there are sidebar adds that you can click on if interested, but ignorable otherwise.

I think that advertisers are going to have to go back to "selling" more and relying on obnoxious/flashy adds less. In the end, people want to know about truly good deals or truly interesting products and will listen to a sales pitch on something they care about, and ignore the stuff they aren't interested in.

Re:DVR

[k3v0]

you can program this into the remote and then select which button you want to be the skip. http://dcortesi.com/2005/05/04/motorola-dct6412-co mcast-dvr-30-second-skip/

Re:DVR

[An ominous Cow art]

My technique is somewhat different, as my mantra is "I will not be advertised at". When I begin FF-ing through commercials I look away from the screen, such that only my peripheral vision sees it. Usually what little I can see of the screen is enough to tell me when I've gone far enough, especially in the case of animated shows like the Simpsons, where the colors/brightness are very different from that of the advertising. I'm usually right on when I resume the show. Occasionally I'll miss a second or two of the show, and rewind if anything important was happening, and on very rare occasions I'll see a fractional second of advertising, and have to curse as I FF past it again.

This way I am exposed to none of the toxic crap they're trying to impress into my consciousness. I'm not in the least interested in having product or brand awareness built in my mind.

Re:DVR

[brianez21]

If you have Comcast, or any television provider that uses the Motorola DCT6412-III digital video recorder, you can program your remote control to gain a 30-second skipahead feature (like TiVo has). Here is the steps:

      1. Press the "Cable" button at the top of the remote so that it is controlling the box.
      2. Press and hold the "Setup" button until the LED under "Cable" flashes twice.
      3. Type in the code 994. The LED will flash twice again.
      4. Press but do not hold the "Setup" button.
      5. Type in the code 00173. This is the skipahead code.
      6. Press whatever button you want to map the skipahead code to. I suggest the "HD Zoom" button since it doesn't appear to do anything.

Re:DVR

[Paulrothrock]

I miss my Dish DVR :(

Did you really like your Dish DVR that much? I have Comcast basic cable right now and I'll be getting Dish in a couple weeks. It'll be really nice to know that, while I'm getting more channels for less money, I'm also getting a better DVR experience. Especially since I've never owned a DVR.

Re:DVR

[LordPhantom]

The 522 (dual tuner standard) was awesome. My only reason for leaving Dish was that they wanted an 18 month commitment to upgrade me to their HD dual-tuner DVR, and with comcast only costing 10$ more (after promotion) for the channel package we get with NO commitment.... well I made a deal with the devil. In anycase, I was -very- happy with the Dish DVR, and Dish as a whole... my biggest piece of advice is get your dish mounted where you can reach it to brush off snow (don't let the installers put it on the roof.....) and you'll be happy.

Re:DVR

[Anonymous Coward]

You're a naive idiot. Brand awareness is built into nearly everything in the world around you. The fact that you actually believe you're not being exposed to it just means that you're weak-willed enough for it to be working better than average.

Re:DVR

[An ominous Cow art]

Not that replying to anonymous trolls is useful, but...

You're correct in that it's inescapable due to corporate logos being all over everything. But I can at least minimize it by avoiding exposure to what I can.

You know why?

[rob1980]

Because people have trained themselves for years to go get a drink during commercial breaks.

Re:You know why?

[LunaticTippy]

That explains my alcoholism. Every year when they make more and longer breaks I make more and stronger drinks.

Re:You know why?

[VWJedi]

Unfortunately, I have the opposite problem. I need caffeine to stay awake when watching TV at night, so by the time the show is over, I'm so wired I can't sleep.

Then I watch the first 10 minutes of another show, get hooked... and the cycle repeats until it's time to get ready for work.

And then there's the weekends...

Re:You know why?

[LunaticTippy]

I am tired all day but come evening I'm wide awake. It's frustrating. At least my spontaneous TV-watching can only go so far since I have broadcast-only reception. At 1 AM I'm not going to download a show just because I'm having trouble falling asleep and the only thing on TV is infomercials. I just need to keep avoiding the on-demand web TV shows. That could get out of hand easily.

Re:You know why?

[VWJedi]

Well, with digital cable and DVR I'm lucky that I ever get to sleep!

For Shame!

[CheeseburgerBrown]

Those of you who skip commercials are aware, I hope, that you're stealing television?

Being entertained is a privilege, not a right.

I mean, sure, you paid to buy the TV. And you pay your cable or satellite bill. And you bought the PVR along with the embedded fees for the various artists' unions. But, other than that, it's like you commercial skippers are trying to get something for nothing.

It's time to ask yourself what Jesus would do.

It's time to take some responsibility: if you enjoy quality programming, the onus is on you to not only watch the adverts but also to act on them. That's right: those commercials are worthless unless you exercise your obligation as a consumer to actually buy something.

So, what's our tally? Buy your TV, buy your PVR, line the pockets of the artist unions, pay for content delivery, watch the ads, act on the suggestions made in the ads -- now you're entitled to some entertainment.

Sadly, there's nothing much good on.

Re:For Shame!

[Maximum Prophet]

It's time to ask yourself what Jesus would do.

1. Wave his hands and the annoying ads would miraculously disappear?
2. Transmute water into wine, so that no one would care about the ads?
3. Stop watching television and go out and change the world for the better?

Re:For Shame!

[elrous0]

It's time to ask yourself what Jesus would do.

Scream "That magical box has tiny people inside!" in aramaic and run away?

Re:For Shame!

[OldManAndTheC]

It's time to ask yourself what Jesus would do.

Jesus's remote has a SMITE button. When a particularly annoying ad appears on His TV (which is much bigger than yours, btw) He presses SMITE, and the ad is destroyed. If He is truly angered He holds the SMITE button down for three seconds, and the ad agency that created the ad is also destroyed, along with all memory of the ad in the minds of anyone who was watching. This is why you don't remember any of the truly annoying ads. Why He has chosen to not smite the HEAD-ON commercials is a mystery known only to Him. We must not question His will.

Thank you, Jesus!

Re:For Shame!

[Anonymous Coward]

And the modern Jesus:

4. Remind viewers to send in their prayer cards to keep Baby Me from crying.

DVRs can help commercials

[acomj]

I have on 2 occations while fast forwarding through the adds, seen something interesting (a concert/performance I didn't know about) and rewinded it to watch get the web site.

Granted it hasn't happened often, but if the ads are something your actually interested it the DVR allows you to go back and check out.

So true about BSG, SG-1, other "geek" shows.

[badboy_tw2002]

Geeks love tech. Geeks love sci-fi. But a lot of geeks also break the mold of the shutin nerd with no social life. Friday nights have traditionally been "family nights" (TGIF comes to mind) when the programming generally skews younger because the family with kids is actually home watching TV. If you gear a show in the 18-35 range, generally we're not at home Friday - you're competing against movie openings, bar nights, shows, poker games, etc. So is it really a surprise that all us tech loving geeks are the biggest group recording shows for later? Moving BSG to Sunday was a good move, and Sci-Fi should do it with the rest of their "prime" content if they want better live ratings.

Re:So true about BSG, SG-1, other "geek" shows.

[Viper Daimao]

I've been thinking the exact same thing for years. I loved the SciFi friday night line up of SG1, Atlantis, and BSG, but damnit, Fridays from 7-9pm? Are they trying to get me to never watch it? The first thing I did when starting me new job and moving out on my own after college was get a dvr so I could actually watch these shows without having to download them all the time.

I don't know much about nielson and tv ratiings but they simply must somehow take into account dvr viewing when making their ratings or else they will be continually move and more distorted by the publics increasing use of dvr technology.

Re:So true about BSG, SG-1, other "geek" shows.

[dltaylor]

Since I use stand-alone Digital Video Recorders, I record two different channels' simultaneous offerings on Friday nights. Even if we're home, there is sometimes something else to watch while the "regular" shows are recorded, so we never have to choose. I think this is why SciFi has put the "*gate sweepstakes" in: to encourage Nielsen-compatible viewing. Since our DVRs control the set-top boxes, we would show as a watching both of the channels (on our single monitor), if there's any feedback from the STBs. In reality, we FF or commercial skip during playback.

We set this up because SciFi uses Fridays for the most of its shows that I watch, "Firefly" used to be on Friday (which was really stupid because it attracted the same audience as SciFi), and a local PBS station puts "BritComs" on Friday, so we recorded two and watched one. The setup is still useful as I sometimes record both F1 and "Adult Swim".

Surprise, surprise!

[jsantos]

Well, surprise, surprise. If you count the people who view the commercials during original broadcast plus the ones who watch them on a DVR it's more than the first group alone. Wow, arithmetic truly is wonderful.

Re:Surprise, surprise!

[VWJedi]

If you count the people who view the commercials during original broadcast plus the ones who watch them on a DVR it's more than the first group alone.

Well, that was not the case twenty years ago.

Wow, arithmetic truly is wonderful.

Didn't Donald Duck learn that when he went to Mathmagic Land?

Re:Surprise, surprise!

[timeOday]

The headline of this story really is misleading. The truth is, DVR's are still hurting ad viewership, just not as much as if all DVR owners skipped 100% of ads. In other words, it's an "increase" only over worst-case assumptions.

Ads == (bathroom) or (beer) or (snack) + break

[erroneus]

Ads serve the same purpose when live or recorded. It's time to get up and get something or do something. Yeah... it means people are recording the ads and yeah, it does mean the ads should bring more revenue. Now STOP trying to mess with our home recorders!!!

Re:Ads == (bathroom) or (beer) or (snack) + break

[Anonymous Coward]

I read the title as "Ads == (bathroom) or (beer) or (snack) & break" and thought to myself,

Wow, you must be an amazingly lazy person if you need to take a break from watching TV and commercials offer the perfect, short window of time.

Voting System

[Yvan256]

This is all nice and good, but what I'd like to see is a voting system for TV ads. Digital cable, satellite, PVRs... they all allow some type of feedback, why not implement a voting system so you can vote ads up or down.

That way, annoying ads would be voted down (companies would stop paying to show it) and fun/good ads would be voted up (companies would know what style works).

Maybe add a third option to let them know they're showing it too often. Sometimes I like some ads but they appear so often as to become annoying.

Re:Voting System

[RRRobotHouse]

I have been thinking about this too when I'm listening to my XM radio. I think this could work if the results were hidden. It would be awful if the voting ended up in a Digg-like structure.

Re:Voting System

[PRMan]

Because by caring enough to vote an ad down, you are proving to the evil marketers that you saw it.

It's like spam. They don't care if you hate it. As long as you saw it/remember it.

Re:Voting System

[walt-sjc]

Yes, I'm sure that they won't care that I hate their ads so much that I vowed to never every buy their product. Like Vonage. Some times people do stupid things - like financially supporting a company that annoys them.

How sustainable

[btempleton]

Yes, I have noticed that many DVR users, perhaps call them "less sophisticated" ones do not always FF over the ads.

However, we MythTV users don't FF over ads, the skip is instantaneous. The system makes judements, about 95% accurate
over where the ad bounds are. When an ad is coming up, it says "3 minute commercial break" in a pop up and you push
a key to skip it. If it has guessed wrong on the length that's usually obvious, and of course it's obvious on the
start. With technologies like this, which the studios have sued to keep out of PVRs, there will be few who don't
skip the breaks, or who even notice interesting ads and rewind to watch them.

Re:How sustainable

[draos]

I have an old ReplayTV with autoskip (before the advertising lobby pushed for its removal) that works like MythTV - I sometimes forget that commercials even exist.

Re:How sustainable

[Lurker187]

FINALLY! People are talking about "FF" and "skip" like they're interchangeable, but they're not. I've used both, including the ReplayTV auto-skip feature mentioned above, and I could not STAND using a Comco$t/Motorola DVR without the 30-second skip. I did quickly find a way to program the 30-second skip into my Harmony programmable remote, which I can't recommend highly enough, but even then, it only made it barely tolerable. Compared to the ReplayTV's auto-skip being right a large majority of the time, and the rest of the time hitting 3+Skip to skip ahead 3 minutes at the start of a break, even the Comco$t DVR with 30-second skip became a drag, and I returned it well before I kicked Comco$t to the curb.

As for those who actually find commercial breaks useful for the break (as opposed to the entertainment value of some commercials), you're missing the point of owning a DVR. You make your own breaks whenever you want. We pause most shows multiple times in our household, to talk about the show, to talk about unrelated things, for ingestion/excretion, etc.

Someone mentioned before that it may take people a while to catch on to the fact that they can skip or FF commercials. However, many content providers like Comco$t are promoting intentionally crippled or less user-friendly show navigation on purpose. The commercial DVR market hasn't taken off as fast as many people thought it would because of this, and now with ReplayTV dead and TiVo on life support, I think we're going to see a growing dichotomy between the DRM'ed DVRs provided by content-providers and the geeks building their own HTPCs.

Re:How sustainable

[ehovland]

Just a me too. I use MythTV and I only watch the commercials when I mean to. Like during a Super Bowl or the Oscars. Otherwise, I just go to the next break marker and watch my show. It works so well, it is amazing. Dang you MythTV! Now I am stealing TV by not watching the commercials. It has gotten so bad that when people talk about shows, I can join in. But when they talk about funny commercials, I am totally clueless.

Re:How sustainable

[Anonymous Coward]

I have MythTV set to tag commercials automatically.
On playback, it just skips them without any action from me. I just love that feature...

Dear Advertisers

[Fritz T. Coyote]

Be sure to note that DVR users not only watch the ads, but /.ers that use DVRs have been known to upload your ads to the web and share them with friends. So be sure to buy lots of ad time on the shows /.ers like to watch. Thank You.

Huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

TV viewing is a time to relax and not a time to sit there with the remote in hand just waiting for the next commercial to fast forward through.

I don't have a DVR, but when I watch TV and a commercial comes on, I flip through the channels. I almost always get back to the show I was watching as the commercials are ending.

Re:Huh?

[KansasorPat]

Different people have different habits. When I sit down to watch "The Office" I change to that channel then put the remote down until the credits when I change to CBS to watch "CSI". I don't flip channels because I'm not interested in seeing 2 minutes of another show or 2 minutes of commercials on another channel.

Define "better"

[Mateo_LeFou]

"if you start looking at people with viewers, at least SOME of them will be watching the commercials. That's much 'better' than just assuming none of them ever do."

If you mean "better" in terms of scientific accuracy, you are right. But I'd like to suggest that "assuming none of them ever do" has a useful purpose too:

If you assume none of them ever do, you can convince Congress that the sky is falling and get technological control measures such as the DMCA or worse in place.

Some DVR users may want to watch the ads.

[w3woody]

I fast forward--but for some ads I'll skip back and play the ad. The only reason why I don't like most advertising is because of ad saturation: after the first five hundred times I've seen an ad, the product is permanently burned into my brain--(*twitch* Ditech Mortgages *twitch*), and I don't need to see the ad anymore. Cute ads (the latest Apple Ads), ads for new movies, or for products I've never seen--I'll actually rewind the DVR and watch them.

Hell, with some of the tripe on TV nowadays sometimes the ads are the best part!

Re:Some DVR users may want to watch the ads.

[Kjella]

I fast forward--but for some ads I'll skip back and play the ad. The only reason why I don't like most advertising is because of ad saturation: after the first five hundred times I've seen an ad, the product is permanently burned into my brain--(*twitch* Ditech Mortgages *twitch*), and I don't need to see the ad anymore.

Halfway there. They want you to the point where if you think "mortgage", you also in the same thought think "Ditech Mortgages". It turns out being "memorable" is pretty hard, and repetition (activating memory) is usually the key. There's several ways to pull this off like telling a "story" in two parts, making a pun on your last ad, basicly anything that forces you to recall anything from the past. We did a project about marketing in school - we looked at an ad that was funny and immidiately understandable, and people got a cheap laugh but they didn't remember it well. Repetitive humor is extremely hard, jokes get stale. Repetitive annoying, well... it works. Also I think there's a "rosy glasses" view on it - when you finally need a mortgage it's like "I always hated the mortgage ads because I never needed one before, but what names do I remember..." and you end up checking them out anyway. Which was the point, after all.

Re:Some DVR users may want to watch the ads.

[misleb]

Hell, with some of the tripe on TV nowadays sometimes the ads are the best part!

But that's the great thing about DVRs. You don't have to watch the "tripe" just because it happens to be showing when you're sitting down to watch TV. You just queue up every episode of only the best shows (and their reruns). The ads should NEVER be the best part. If they seem that way, you either need to watch less TV or be more selective about what you schedule for recording.

-matthew

Commercials? What commercials?

[jbarr]

Our habits were similar until we built a SageTV system. Now, it goes something like this:

1. After a show completes recording, ShowAnalyzer auto-scans the recording for commercial breaks and flags them. This process completes within about 2-3 minutes of the completion of the recording.

2. We watch the show with SageTV's ComSkip plugin enabled, and when a commercial break begins, playback just jumps forward to the marked end of the commercial break, resuming the show content. It's slicker than snot.

3. Should we want to watch commercials, we either temporarily disable the ComSkip plugin, or we just FF or REW into the marked commercial section.

And the auto-marking is 's amazingly accurate--probably 98% accurate. The combination of SageTV + ShowStopper + ComSkip plugin gives us very successful commercial marking. No, it's not perfect, and sometimes shows get mis-marked, but it's very rare.

Other home-brew DVR's like MythTV and BeyondTV have similar capabilities.

And when we want to do something else (food, bathroom, phone, etc.) it's just a simple press of the Pause or Stop buttons

Commercials are not evil. Forcing us to watch them is.

SageTVTips.com

Off-Topic

[Anonymous Coward]

With billions of dollars in ad spending at stake -- 2006 upfront sales were about $9 billion -- networks want to make sure that every ad viewer is counted.

$9 billion in ads divided by $300 million viewers in only $30 per viewer per year. I pay a - modest - $40 Dish bill each month. Were I to calculate the cost of viewing ads - were it a "job" - I suspect that, being generous - that time is worth $0.50 per full hour of commercials viewed.

Not to bitch and moan, but it may be helpful for media execs to keep in mind HOW VERY LITTLE is gained by huge takings of freedom.

My experience

[ajs318]

I have Sky Plus (not HD, though; my eyesight is so poor I can barely see 625 lines, and that's already a bit Monet-esque; so what am I going to do with another 465?). I do generally skip the adverts. However, maybe about one advert per hour of programming will catch my eye and I will rewind it to watch in normal speed. Not that I'll actually go out and buy the product being advertised, though.

Other times, I'll simply let the advert break run through but without actually watching, because I'm taking a leak / feeding the cat / answering the phone / skinning up / whatever else I used to do in advert breaks before Sky Plus; but I don't have to be so careful to return in time for the start of the programme proper, because I can just rewind it.

I suspect this is what's actually happening: the recorder lets you not have to be there dead on the end of the break, because you can just rewind if you missed the start. Anyway, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really matter how many people see your advert. All that matters is how many people buy your product.

I guess I look at it from a different perspective.

[gtwreck]

Your post was very informative, and I do not disagree. I guess why the 3 days bugs me is because these numbers are designed to set advertising rates, but are used to make decisions about content. Due to the business model, this sort of thing is going to happen- but I really get frustrated when good shows with reasonable, stable, viewing audiences get cancelled because they are no longer growing, or aren't a hit on the scale of Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, or American Idol. The 7-10 day number I think would be more effective to judge the quality of a series and determine it's fate.

I don't like that networks are able to make the same amount of money throwing inexpensive to produce crappy reality shows on the air instead of well-written higher budget scripted shows.

Farscape was killed because they could make more money with a collection of really bad reality shows.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip wasn't a runaway hit, but it was cancelled despite having a solid viewership. It was expensive to produce.

Battlestar Galactica has been under pressure from day one despite it's near-universal critical praise, solid acting, and good writing. Mainly because it's expensive to produce.

There are lots of shows with more universal appeal than sci-fi fare that fall into this category.

My DVR habits

[Maxo-Texas]

I typically see 5 seconds of the first commercial, 1-2 seconds of each commercial in between and the last 20 seconds of the last commercial 2 or 3 times unless the skip lands perfectly. Sometimes- very rarely, that 1-2 seconds will pull me in. Recently these were for: New Movie Ads, Geico Commercials with the gecko and with the cavemen (tho I'm a solid Allstate customer since they give me great service and rates- of course I've never filed a claim yet in 27 years).

If I "watch" the commercials then that means either I'm out of the room, petting the dogs, or asleep.

I'll go a step further...

[Maltheus]

...and say that DVRs actually help the advertisers.

Before them, my mind was trained to tune out commercials because I was so sick of them. If I couldn't tune it out, I developed a very negative opinion of the companies advertised. Remember those Taco-Bell "drop the chulupa" commercials that aired twice every commercial break for every show for over a year? I haven't been to a Taco-Bell since. I'm actively not trying to boycott them, that was simply the result.

However, whenever I now see a commercial, it's new and fresh to me. I even sometimes find myself intentionally watching commercials in the same way that superbowl commercials fascinate so many. Novelty turns me on and repetition turns me off. That's just how I'm wired regardless of how many marketing types chant "repetition works" over and over.

Re:What would Jesus do?

[Technician]

It's time to ask yourself what Jesus would do.

That's simple. Set the controls to block all violence, cursing, adult situations, etc and foreget it as there is nothing on except "BLOCKED CONTENT".

Really, you have to ask "What would Jesus do?". I think he would be too busy to waste time not talking to people in person. Somehow I just can't picture him kicking back in a recliner and flipping on The Simpsons.

I also strongly doubt he would have cable, satelite, a PVR, or even a TV.

You did bring up a beef I have.

Being entertained is a privilege, not a right.

I mean, sure, you paid to buy the TV. And you pay your cable or satellite bill.

Cable TV was originaly billed as advertisement free. You paid directly for the privilage of commercial free TV in place of advertising sponsored TV. Cable providers pay a premium for content to provide. In the contract they must carry the commercials with a few local commercial breaks for local market advertisement insertions. That is why you not only get National Ford commercials (Time Magazine, Sports Ilistrated) you also get local car dealership advertisements. My beef is since there is so much sponsorship, why is a cable bill so expensive? If it is so expensive (I buy content) why is it so jam packed with sponsor messages?

It got so bad I dropped subscription TV when basic went from 6.95/month to 12.95/month. The prices have never come back and I have never come back. I found life much fuller without mind deadning least common denominator suggestive situation comedy. Internet has replaced TV. We finaly picked up a HDTV (we watch a lot of commercial free (no interuptions) videos. I put up an antenna so we can get the local DTV, but we rarely watch it. If I want the news, I grab the laptop instead. I don't have to wait for the news and I can dig further into a story if needed. TV is for local news.

After I build a Myth TV box, I will probably watch more TV as I could then record NOVA and other shows I simply forget to watch when they are on. So even though I don't have a DVR yet, I would have to agree with the article bacause I would go from watching less than 2 hours of TV a week to more and in the process I would be exposed to advertisements I simply don't even have on now.

Myth TV just got easier to build and configure for newbies.
http://www.mythpvr.com/mythtv/distribution/mythdor a/4/install-1.html

Use VideoReDo to watch first couple seconds of ads

[SpecialAgentXXX]

I record all of the broadcast shows in HD and use VideoRedo to put in markers at black frames. Those are the ones usually between the show and each commercials. When I go to cut the ads, I usually jump to each marker and watch the first couple of seconds of the ad. If it's interesting - i.e. the HD ads cost more money to produce and look better than regular SD ads - I'll watch the rest of the ad. The AT&T and Toyota Yaris HD ads come to mind. Old Navy's summer bikini SD ads also catch my eye. However, a lot of ads are aired more than once during the show, or at least many times on the networks during the shows I like to record. So I will watch the ads, but usually only once. But, since I've seen them before, when I see only the first couple of seconds, the whole ad pops back up in my mind.

VOLUME of commercials remind me

[PoderOmega]

I forget to fast forward sometimes, but unfortunately for the advertisers I do not have any volume normalization on my TV. So when I reach for the remote to turn down the BLARING commercials it reminds me that I can just fast forward through them.

Stop displaying your channel logo

[lobosrul]

I use Showanalyzer to detect commercials on my PVR. I would estimate the latest version is well over 99% accurate if the network displays their logo during the show and not during commercials. So my advice to the networks, stop displaying your annoying channel logo, or display it during the commercials. My other advice, show commercials in HD. Hell, I actually look FOR HD movie trailers on occasion.

It doesn't work this way.

[raehl]

I've had my DVR for over 2 years now.

And I still watch commercials.

There are a few reasons for this. One, commercials are actually informative. There are really new products and new TV shows and new other things out there that you get informed about watching commercials.

Some commercials are also entertaining.

And, I find that when I need to go to the kitchen or the bathroom or whatever, instead of just getting up and leaving during the commercials like I used to, I just pause the TV, and end up watching the commercials more.

Now, that's not to say I don't fast-forward through commercials - but that's only because you'll see a given commercial more than one time. So I tend to watch each commercial at least once.

AND, I watch a *LOT* more TV than I used to, since I can make the TV I want to watch fit my schedule instead of having to make my schedule fit the TV.

So when you add it all up, watching more TV, still watching commercials, DVRs probably arn't hurting anything, and may even be helping.

Mythtv eats commercials!

[drewzhrodague]

As a MythTV user, I don't see many commercials -- it eats about 80% of them for me. So, I get to enjoy the shows I want, with far fewer commercials. I wonder how/why Nielsen ratings are even an issue these days.

ReplayTV skips over ads automatically !

[Anonymous Coward]

I have one of the original replay tv boxes, the kind which FF on their own, right over the ads and back to the program...I always get irritated when I have to watch live TV with all the ads, I hit pause and go away for a while so that I can come back and skip over the ads.

Great!

[Anonymous Coward]

So, Fox, does this mean you will bring back Arrested Development now? :(

No ads for me...

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't have a TV set. Bittorrent is my DVR. Watching 40 minutes of Heroes wihout ads* is bloody great. I don't need a new drink or to pee every five minutes!

* there are a few places here and there where the scene is cut in a way that says "cue the ads here", but it only lasts a short moment before the next scene starts. Thanks to whoever rips the shows!

Just a clarification...

[Manchot]

That data is not tied to an individual's account: it is simply aggregated. This is stated in captial letters very clearly in their Privacy Policy (tivo.com/privacy), which they make you read before you sign up. Even if you only glance through the policy, there's little chance that you'll miss it. Moreover, they allow you to opt out by calling a phone number. Of course, this information isn't just used for their financial benefit, since Tivo's "Suggestions" feature (one of the things that gives Tivo the edge over other DVRs) depends on the ability to collect data anonymously. There are many companies flippant about privacy, but Tivo certainly isn't one of them.

I've been saying this for years...

[slapout]

...if the show comes on while I'm at work, I _can't_ watch it. Unless I can record it and play it back later. Then there's a chance I'll watch the commercials. If I can't time shift, I don't even have a chance at watching the commercials!

How to add a 30 Second Skip to Most Comcast DVRs

[Orphaze]

You can remap an unused button on most Comcast DVRs to perform the 30 second skip feature, as instructed by the really great howto over at the wikibooks on the Motorola DVRs.

The following technique can be used to map an unused or unneeded button on the "silver" remote to the 30-second skip command. Current versions of the i-Guide software will skip forward 30 seconds into a recording when this command is sent. A good choice is the 'A / Lock' button since many users don't need that function; you can feel both the '15-second-back' and '30-second-skip' buttons with one finger and move between them without looking. Another option is to reprogram the '15-second back' button, since PgDn already provides that functionality.

      1. Press the "Cable" button at the top of the remote to put it into Cable Box control mode.
      2. Press and hold the "Setup" button until the "Cable" button blinks twice.
      3. Type in the code 994. The "Cable" button will blink twice.
      4. Press (do not hold) the "Setup" button.
      5. Type in the code 00173.
      6. Press whatever button you want to map the 30-second skip command to (ex: A / Lock). The "Cable" button will blink twice if successful.

Works great, though I use MythTV with the firewire output of my DCT 3412 (all of my channels, high-def and all, are unencrypted thankfully) so I don't really need the feature. ;-)

Why ISNT it tracked?

[brunes69]

I mean nowadays, with everyone getting digital cable systems, why aren't these companies already tracking this stuff?

Seriously - they could be providing ACTUAL USAGE NUMBERS FOR FREE, compared to Neilsen who pays families, and reaches a much smaller segment of the population.

Any digital cable company should be able to know at any given time exactly how many people are tuned into a given show. Hell they could even correlate it with account data to give stats by region - and could even take statistical correlations into effect to get you stats on median income, since people with higher incomes would be more likely to have more services on their bill.

I wouldn't really have any privacy issues with this as long as it was tracked in aggregate form. Maybe it would end up giving us less reality TV.

On the up side, my wife is normal

[smchris]

Doesn't surprise me. She doesn't skip ahead on the commercials the MythTV doesn't autoflag when I'm not around. Old habits die hard.

Awesome! Next step is:

[mattr]

Two steps really, since the posts to this thread reveal a trend of looking for "funny" ads even when they are otherwise skipping ads.

1. Do a study to determine what kind of ads are "funny" i.e. sticky to people with ad skip controllers in their hands. This will lead to more interesting ads, possibly with "fun" or "interactivity". Like a Cowboy Neal poll or a window on a live chat.. people might even find the "commercials" to be more interesting that the tv show and want to extend the length of them!

2. Make an experimental interface (heck use Zudeo) and separate torrents for every TV show of every TV station, essentially copying a cable feed into a test server, torrents indexed by day/time or maybe topic, show name, or maybe a TV Guide style show calendar.
    Anyway the point is, insert commercials into the torrents so they stay with their TV shows. Maybe try some with commercials all at the beginning, etc.
    Do the same study as TFA but have families access the torrents instead. It *ought* to show that commercials embedded/preceding tv shows distributed via bittorrent are in fact MORE effective than ordinary television in selling a product.

Because commercial breaks have become too LONG

[Fastball]

I never realized how long commercial breaks had become until I built a MythTV PVR. Eight 30-second forward skips equals four minutes. FOUR MINUTES. Multiply that by the number of commercial breaks, and you have a lot of wasted life. You know, if they shortened up the breaks to ~2 minutes, I might be more inclined to sit tight and weather the ads. But, like several posters above, I've reached the point where I can no longer watch live TV.

Ad skipping? Time compression is where it's at

[Fastball]

Since 95% of what I watch is pre-recorded by my MythTV PVR, I naturally skip ads. But what I've found to be the killer app in my PVR viewing is the time compression functionality (MythTV has it, not sure about others). I can speed up the playback to 1.2-1.5X normal speed. It takes some getting used to, but once acclimated, live TV seems slurred and supine. I can watch a one-hour show sans commercials in about thirty minutes. Many shows lend themselves to accelerated playback: talking heads, sports, news, etc. Others are harder to speed up.

Benefits?

I'm actually watching more TV! Went to dinner with my girlfriend and another couple a few months ago. We discussed how much TV each of us watch. Initially, everyone was rattling off all the series and sitcoms they watch, and since I watch few series, I felt like everyone was watching more than me. However, after I thought about all the talking heads and news shows I record and watch, it wasn't even close: I watch a couple "hours" more than everyone body a night. But because I speed up the playback and skip commercials, I get it all in in almost half the time it takes everybody else to watch their shows.

Vive la time compression!