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

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.

[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.

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.

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: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.

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.