Agency Execs Stymied by DVR Ad Skipping (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)

Ad Week ^ | June 30, 2009 | Anthony Crupi

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A new study issued by the DVR Research Institute suggests that advertising executives have a keen understanding of the threat posed by time-shifting devices yet are uncertain about what they can do to counteract ad skipping.

The four-part report, “Advertising in the DVR Age,” reveals that 83 percent of marketers surveyed believe the increased adoption of DVRs will negatively impact the effectiveness of TV advertising in the course of the next three years. That assertion was echoed by ad agency executives. Per the study, 77 percent of agency higher-ups said that DVR usage will prove to be the greatest challenge to the current ad model.

As DVR penetration picks up steam -- approximately 26 percent of U.S. TV households subscribe to a digital video recording service, up from 17 percent two years ago -- the potential for commercial avoidance rises. But according to Tom Schultz, managing director of the DVR Research Institute, the fear engendered by time-shifting may be disproportionately elevated.

“So far, the impact time-shifting has had on commercial viewing has been limited,” Schultz said. “According to our calculations, on average, a mere 5-6 percent of ads are being skipped.” That said, an exponential uptick in commercial avoidance will coincide with increased adoption of the technology. “Within two years, we forecast that ad-skipping will be closer to 16-18 percent,” Schultz said.

According to Schultz, the impact of DVR technology is not identical across all programming genres and dayparts. “It’s going to get much worse for prime-time, and dramas particularly are going to be hit hard,” Schultz said. “By 2012, anywhere from one-quarter to one-third of ads will be skipped in prime-time drama series.”

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Tuesday morning good news.

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ping

[pnh102]

Easy solution... make commercials that people want to watch and they will watch them.

I see no problem with skipping ads, I pay to watch them, so I can fast forward through them just like I can any other TV show.

[stentorian conservative]

I love it!

I haven’t watched a commercial in years. Pause for an hour/half hour, go wash some dishes or mow the lawn, come back and skip right through them bad boys.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

The early Replay TV DVR had a cool feature where it detected the black space between a commercial and the program and would automatically skip forward past the commercial. I was inclined to purchase that box for that feature alone, but they ran into trouble and I purchased Tivo. I would pay dearly for that feature, especially because AMC now increases the frequency AND duration of commercials near the end of a movie.

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http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/agency/e3i3a983edc0e93a51b153ca0061972b667
Most Consumers Just Tune Out Ads

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/technology/30cable.html?ref=media
Supreme Court Allows Wider DVR Use

http://business.theatlantic.com/2009/06/say_goodbye_to_your_dvr_boxes.php
Could DVR Save Print Journalism?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/30/AR2009063000681.html
Iranians take risks to upload their dissent online

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124628574640368173.html#articleTabs%3Darticle
High Court Boosts Remote DVR

http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN2938314620090629
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN2938314620090629

http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE55S2FY20090629
Smartphones, social networks to boost mobile advertising

[brownsfan]

“AMC now increases the frequency AND duration of commercials near the end of a movie.”

Really doesn’t matter, I’ve seen all 6 of AMC’s movies.

[ChocChipCookie]

Who WOULDN’T want to skip commercials?? That’s the #2 reason we love our Tivo. The #1 reason is that we always know what our kids are watching because they only watch what is recorded. Oh, and I guess #3 is that since our kids don’t watch commercials either, they don’t know what all the “coolest” toys are.

[BP2]

Yep, I see no problem skipping ads, either — it’s just like changing the channel during a commercial.

[Nickname]

Every once in a while an ad will catch my interest and I’ll watch it for its entertainment value.

I’m glad I don’t have to watch the stupid ambulance chasing ads, “male enhancement” ads or other stuff if I don’t want to.

[abb]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4bbe7772-64f9-11de-a13f-00144feabdc0.html
Congress pressed to act on Google book settlement

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090629/ap_on_hi_te/us_comcast_wireless_internet
Comcast to offer wireless Internet service

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman2/publish/Television_44/Supremes_opens_way_for_remote_DVRs.asp
Supremes open way for remote DVRs

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=108871
Cablevision Wins Key DVR Technology Suit

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=108895
Visa Sponsors Ad-Free Streaming on NBC.com

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http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2009/06/30/06302009wacprinting.html
Trib eliminating 43 jobs, moving printing operation to Austin

http://voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2009/06/30/this_just_in/053loriehearn062909.txt
‘This Is Not the Union-Tribune’s Non-Profit’

[Little Ray]

Wrong.

If they can’t get you watch the advertisements, the will put the advertisements in the show. Product placement will go crazy.

Alternately, lacking sponsorship, they’ll stop making the shows.

[a fool in paradise]

Big Media will just have to add popups and cookies to your digital tv (and forced expiration of digitally recorded programs).

[apastron]

Nothing personal, but I think the passing of Billy Mays will greatly reduce “ad-skipping”.

[a fool in paradise]

In the 1930s and 1940s in radio (and early television), programs had a sponsor and the characters would have a “neighbor” who’d always drop in to talk of Glow Coat floor wax or Jell-O gelatin.

The ads were intigrated into the programming.

[BP2]

Oh, yeah, the ReplayTV 5000 series...

I've got 3 of them. It's old technology by today's standards, but the automatic Commercial Advance ROCKS:

[a fool in paradise]

If they can’t get you watch the advertisements, the will put the advertisements in the show. Product placement will go crazy.

Another thing to do is to put infotainment/advertising "boxing" around a program (like when you see the scroll bars on a cable news channel).

And MASSIVE product placement already exists (the billboards you see in a ballpark during a baseball game are digitally substituted when you watch from home).

[ProtectOurFreedom]

LOL. But Wait! Today they’re having an all-day “80s Special”! You won’t want to miss it! (best Billy Mays voice)

[a fool in paradise]

I liked my DVR/DVD-R system (until it crashed). It included a skip button that would work on DVD and DVR programming (so I could skip back/ahead 15, 30, and 60 seconds).

Helped to be able to jump around a DVD too.