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DVRs Help Some TV Shows Improve Ratings

Posted by Soulskill on from the we've-only-been-telling-them-that-for-a-decade dept.

ubermiester writes "After years of panicked lawsuits by content providers against TiVo and DVR technology in general, the NYTimes is reporting on yet another lesson for the content providers to learn and then immediately forget: 'Against almost every expectation, nearly half of all people watching delayed shows are still slouching on their couches watching messages about movies, cars, and beer. According to Nielsen, 46 percent of viewers 18 to 49 years old for all four networks taken together are watching the commercials during playback, up slightly from last year.' The article also notes viewership increases 'in the range of 7 to 12 percent, with some shows having increases of more than 20 percent when DVR ratings are added. The four networks together are averaging a 10 percent increase."

22 of 297 comments (clear)

  1. That's because they need MythTV by BobMcD · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Not only is it trivial to skip commercials for a shifted show, but it can do it automatically.

    I have also adjusted my life to only watching what I have recorded. I'm not sure when the last time I turned on 'Live TV' was. I have taken to keeping the last/freshest five episodes from a number of programs I like to watch, and I select from between them. Myth automatically deletes the old ones, and I find five or so is plenty for my families needs.

    That being said, even seeing a commercial these days just feels odd to me, let alone watching it.

    1. Re:That's because they need MythTV by Sparr0 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Re "seeing a commercial these days just feels odd"... I get the same feeling when I am stuck using a public PC (e.g. at a library) and start seeing ads on the web.

    2. Re:That's because they need MythTV by vivek7006 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      MythTv is great but linux GPU drivers for ATI/Intel/Nvidia suck. The last time I tried MythTv, I could not get hardware acceleration and GPU decoding for HD content (for mpeg2 and H264). I tried both the open source drivers and the binary blob but it just doesn't work. On windows, Nvidia has purevideo and ATI has avivo which work like charm. Play full-HD videos and CPU usage barely climbs up since GPU is doing all the hardwork, but on linux even my penryn based core2duo CPU started crapping out when playing HD content. I ultimately settled with Windows media center which coupled with DVRMStoolbox provides automatic commercial detection and skipping. It work for me.

    3. Re:That's because they need MythTV by ArbitraryDescriptor · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Hello, I am the sponsor who keeps your favorite show on the air. Have we met? No? Well let me introduce myself.

      I am not a magical entity, I am merely a corporation looking to protect my bottom line. I do not like or dislike shows, I do not judge them in any way. I don't have the internet, and I don't read your fan forums. So I don't know how many of you really like the show; all I know is whether you saw my ad or not. I pay your favorite show's bills because people that I trust tell me that you watch my commercials. If I found out that you were not watching my commercials, I would stop wasting my money on you, and your show would die.

      Are popular Sci-fi shows canceled because they are more expensive? Probably, the return on investment for special effects and such is not so great when compared to a sitcom. But is the return on investment made even worse because a much larger percentage of their fans torrent, DVR, or otherwise remove themselves from the Nielsen numbers? More than likely.

    4. Re:That's because they need MythTV by BobMcD · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I'm glad you stopped by. Your cousins in the music industry weren't as thoughtful nor as considerate. Should you not wish to enjoy the same fate they are currently facing, please allow me to suggest you adapt.

      You may want to find a way to collect revenue streams at the content level, perhaps from the cable company who gets a fairly large chunk of my household budget each month. You may want to incorporate advertising into your programming.
      You may want to do any number of things that I have not yet thought of yet.

      What you do NOT want me to do is to turn off my television set because it isn't worth the electricity it uses and the cost of keeping it up to the most recent level of 'D'. With World of Warcraft, Youtube, Slashdot, streaming Netflix, and many other popular internet-based time sinks at my disposal, your job and your millions are very much at risk. I can already consume a lot of content that does not annoy me with advertisements about vaginal cleansing products and there is already little you can do to prevent it.

      In short, I am all you have left, and I am hanging by a string. Try not to piss me off.

      Thanks, and best of luck to you!

    5. Re:That's because they need MythTV by bughunter · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Well, if the TV Execs and advertisers were smart (I know, I know, we're talking about TV Execs and advertisers, but bear with me), they'd tailor the commercials to the viewers and design their ads to be effective when viewed by someone with a "30-second skip" feature, who will probably only see a few frames of the commercial, randomly phased within the 30 second window.

      There are things you can do, like make sure your logo is prominent throughout the length of the commercial, or keeping a hot, scantily-clad female in the frame at all times so that male viewers will back up to watch the whole thing.

      I swear, some commercials are doing this already. I predict that in 10 years, all TV commercials will be either static billboard-type ads, or softcore porn vignettes with heavy product placement.

      --
      I can see the fnords!
    6. Re:That's because they need MythTV by ArbitraryDescriptor · · Score: 3, Insightful

      In short, I am all you have left, and I am hanging by a string. Try not to piss me off.

      I think you have me confused with a Network Execubot, like your friend Mr. Orca. I am a Broadcast Marketing Execubot. I don't care which network I use; and I don't care how they get viewers. I just pay the one who has the most people who will look at my fine advertisements. Discerning, principled TV viewers like yourself are a statistical anomaly; easily replaced by the hordes watching reality/game shows.

      By not watching ads, you don't hurt the advertiser. You hurt the network. When a show's ratings drop below the rate the advertiser paid for, the network has to either refund their money, or give them free advertising against the new rate to make up for what they paid for. The advertiser does not suffer when a show fails, the advertiser simply invests elsewhere.

    7. Re:That's because they need MythTV by RobDude · · Score: 3, Insightful

      ^^^ This.

      I've recently jumped on the streaming media bandwagon. I setup the scheduler in uTorrent and downloaded the newest version of TED. Now my PC seeks out new episodes of the shows I want and downloads them during off-peak hours. Then I've got Tversity or whatever it is acting as my UPNP server. Each TV has it's own media receiver.

      One side effect of this setup is that the TV shows I've downloaded don't have commercials. At first, I saw this as a good thing. But, after the first few shows, I realized I *missed* the commercials.

      Some TV watching, I think of as a 100% attention activity. Think 'really good movies' - you don't want interruptions. You don't want any distractions. No talking to your wife, no running to the kitchen to check on dinner, no talking about what is happening in the movie or what you did at work that day.

      But then, some other TV watching - most of the TV watching I do...it's more laid back. The TV is on, but I'm also working on the laptop or cooking dinner or whatever. Commercial breaks give are a welcome interruption. It gives my girl and me a chance to make funny/witty/ remarks about the show we're watching or to talk about other stuff or to get up and check on dinner or to grab a coke, or to run to the bathroom, or to do whatever.

      It sounds stupid - but I prefer the commercials for a lot of shows that I don't much care about.

      The 'pause' button is an option but then you've got *zero* content on the TV. Commercials are more entertaining than nothing. I like them in certain situations.

       

    8. Re:That's because they need MythTV by calzones · · Score: 3, Insightful

      There's two kinds of viewers: those who are going to mute/skip/walk out/ignore/avoid commercials, and those who don't and the same person can be either or both depending on different factors.

      Trying to mandate watching commercials is bound to fail. Those who don't want to watch them will go to whatever lengths necessary to avoid them. You've already lost their eyeballs so forget about them, you never had them even before DVRs.

      The audience you need to target are those who either enjoy commercials or are not actively avoiding them.

      --
      Asking people to think is like asking them to buy you a new car
    9. Re:That's because they need MythTV by RobDude · · Score: 3, Insightful

      A couple of reasons I guess. First, the girlfriend and I will watch TV together on the couch and often what is happening is that the shows that I really do enjoy watching (cartoons mostly) for her, she doesn't much care about. And the reverse is true - she's got a thing for cops-type shows like NCIS and then reality stuff like the Amazing Race. She also religiously watches Jeopardy.

      So, I'll be screwing around on the laptop half watching/half ignoring some show I don't much care for - but she really likes. The commercial breaks give us time for conversation and what not. Yes, I know that *sounds* pathetic, and before I would agreed that it is pathetic; until I went without it.

      I think of it like going to a restaurant with a date. Typically, you show up and have to wait a few minutes (annoying). Then they seat you and you have to wait a bit (also annoying). Then, they take your order and you have to wait a bit. Then you get your salad/appetizer or whatever...then you get your actual meal. Then you wait, ask for a check, then you wait, then you get the check, then you pay and leave.

      At first glance, it's easy to say, 'Man all that waiting sucks'. But when you remove it; you realize that the breaks actually added to the experience. Certainly, it can be excessive - an hour long wait without being seated and I'd have already left and gone somewhere else. But if you just showed up and were taken to your table with the food already there and you sat and ate the food and left immediately after - the experience would actually be *less* enjoyable even though all you did was remove the annoying parts.

      It sounds weird, I guess. But I found this to be true in quite a few places. Take video games. A lot of what you do in video games is annoying (the grind in WoW or other MMORPGs, for example). And you think, if they game didn't have any of this crap, it'd be so much better. Then you jump on a pirated server or you learn the cheat codes or something and the next thing you know you are tired of the game because you already did everything or something. It turns out to be less fun.

      So yeah - three months ago, I would have agreed that commercials are nothing but annoying. But once they were gone I missed them.

      That's not to say I'd want to watch commercials 100% of the time or that I think they are more entertaining that the actual shows. I just think it's a buffer zone.

  2. Really? by Mr.Fork · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Recorded shows increase viewership? Like pirated movies increase movie ticket sales? Like pirated music increases digital music sales?

    Question is, will the media giants really wake up and stop all this lawsuit nonsense. Will RIAA, MPAA and other copyright trolls really give up the ghost and embrace the digital age and realise the potential of the internet?

    --
    Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things. - Peter F. Drucker
    1. Re:Really? by Bill_the_Engineer · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Recorded shows increase viewership?

      Yes. Unlike music most broadcast televisions are played only once. So you either make time to be in front of the TV to watch it live, or you record it.

      Time shifting makes up for some stupid scheduling decision a TV executive may make.

      The point you were trying to make about piracy doesn't make sense in this context...

      --
      These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
  3. Re:DVR usage by easyTree · · Score: 3, Funny

    skipping ads is communism / terrorism / child-unfriendly :P

    --
    Requiem for the American Dream
  4. watching commercials by BigHungryJoe · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Commercials give me a break to go pee, make a phone call, or grab another brew. I still need that break when I'm watching a DVR'd show. I'm not actually watching the commercials.

    1. Re:watching commercials by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Try the "pause" button, you can stop for a break whenever you want to.

  5. Re:I don't get why PVR-users watch recorded ads... by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I don't understand why those with PVRs still watch the ads.

    I enjoy ads that I find clever or interesting - for example, I love most of the ones Jack in the Box (a US hamburger chain) makes. Since I skip through the commercial breaks using my Tivo's 30-second skip function, I'll often catch just enough of an ad so I can tell if it's likely to catch my interest - in which case, I watch it.

    If I had to estimate, I'd say I watch at most 15 percent of the commercials, though; and that's likely a high estimate.

    I think the bottom line is: When I watch ads, I'm doing so for the same reason I watch a TV show - for entertainment.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  6. Over enthusiastic conclusions by nick_davison · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "After years of panicked lawsuits against TiVo and DVR technology in general, the NYTimes is reporting on yet another lesson for content providers to learn and then immediately forget"

    "According to Nielsen, 46 percent of viewers 18 to 49 years old for all four networks taken together are watching the commercials during playback, up slightly from last year"

    "some shows having increases of more than 20 percent when DVR ratings are added"

    So, the ad value drops by 54%... But up to 20% more viewers are added... Giving, at best, 55.2% of your former ad viewership.

    Yes, 55.2% of your old value is SO much better than the former 100%.

    Drawing the conclusion that content providers were wrong to freak out about DVRs is farcical. Their product is still worth at least 45% less to advertisers. Yes, 45% less is better than 54% less, that 20% bump from DVRs hooking more viewers is nice and all... But, seriously, it's like saying "Hey, we burned down half your home but, good news, we totally discovered a small basement you didn't know about in the charred wreckage. Aren't you grateful we torched your home?!"

  7. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  8. television was supposed to kill the cinema house by circletimessquare · · Score: 3, Insightful

    then the vcr was supposed to kill the cinema house

    now the internet is supposed to kill the cinema house

    meanwhile:

    http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/

    lesson: people fear losing control. as if control had anything to do with making money off media in the first place

    in your desperate attempt to retain control, dear media execs, you might want to notice you are wasting a lot of energy over issues that have nothing to do with your bottom line. only your fear tells you this is the case

    in your business strategies, you need more zen, less mafia goons

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  9. Commercials by ArcadeNut · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The only reason I wind up watching commercials is because I forgot I'm watching something on the DVR and I am allowed to fast forward through it! I must be getting old..

    --
    Visit the Arcade Restoration Workshop @ http://www.arcaderestoration.com
  10. DVR increases ratings? DUH! by businessnerd · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They say that DVRs have increased ratings for shows as if it's surprising. Isn't this the whole point of a DVR though? You record it because you would not have otherwise been able to watch the show in its regularly scheduled time slot. So instead of just plain missing the show, you record it and watch it later. Instead of having to pick between two shows where one will get watched and the other will get missed, you record them both, and they both get watched. In the latter, the DVR has increased your potential audience. I'm a little surprised about the commerical watching though. As a MythTV user, I skip commercials altogether without the need for any user interaction. However, in cases where the commercials are not skipped (like if I start watching a show fifteen minutes into the broadcast), it's about a 60/40 split as to whether I'll bother fast forwarding. Someimes I'm really that lazy where lifting my arm to pick up the remote seems like too much effort. Other times it's the perfect bathroom break. Even though MythTV skips my commercials and could potentially pause for a break whenever I want, I tend to do it when there is a commercial simply because the flow of the show dictates a pause for commercial. It's kind of weird to pause in the middle of a conversation and come back a few minutes later. It totally messes with the flow.

    --
    "It's not whether you win or lose, it's how drunk you get." -- H. J. Simpson
  11. Re:I don't get why PVR-users watch recorded ads... by Obfuscant · · Score: 4, Funny
    I don't understand why those with PVRs still watch the ads.

    Because you miss all the irony if you skip them. Like ads for Carl's Jr. or Jack in the Box during exercise shows.

    The very best one was last night. Premiere of "Sex Addict Rehab With Dr. Drew." A facility full of sex addicts, men and women, models, rock stars, and an "adult video star". Not a single one of them sexually attractive in any way, but they're all sitting around talking about having sex with each other. The "adult star", knowing shes going to a facility to treat her addiction, tried sneaking in a dildo she called "Ron Jeremy", and a pair of knee-pads. Epitome of skank.

    The major advertiser? Trojan. Not for condoms, but for women's mini-vibrators.

    I don't know if it was sad or funny.