Posted on 07/27/2006 5:07:52 AM PDT by abb
AS THE SPIN WARS CONTINUE on the impact of DVRs on television consumption, new research has emerged. A highly regarded media researcher's findings contradict the networks' insistence that DVR users watch more television.
New data from Mediamark Research (MRI) shows that adults in DVR homes watch less television than those without the devices. The research shows that they are 23 percent less likely to be heavy television viewers versus the general population.
Although they believe DVR users to be rabid commercial skippers, the broadcast networks have maintained that people in DVR homes watch more television--broadcast shows in particular. That's intended to convince advertisers that they may get more exposure for their money. The nets argue: Even if the ads are skipped, viewers get a glimpse of the marketing messages. Last fall, network executives disseminated research showing that DVR homes watch 12 percent more television.
Those struggling to reconcile such disparate conclusions might benefit from Nielsen's new commercial ratings, coming this fall, and a new service from TiVo. The DVR marketer announced a program Wednesday to provide advertisers with second-by-second tracking of DVR viewership, providing a gauge to determine whether ads are skipped, in part or in full.
MRI's DVR findings came from its annual spring study of the media consumption habits of 26,000 adults--2,912 with DVRs. Research was conducted from March 2005 through May 2006.
According to the study, one reason that those in DVR homes may be watching less television is that they spend more down time reading and trolling the Internet. MRI found that adults in DVR homes are 43 percent more likely to be heavy magazine readers, 40 percent more likely to be heavy newspaper readers, and 81 percent more likely to be heavy Internet users.
Based on MRI's research and the widely held belief that DVR users tend to have higher education and income levels, those findings are not a surprise. Consider MRI's findings: 36.8 percent of adults with DVRs have a college education (compared to 25.2 percent of the general population), and 17.1 percent earn more than $150,000 a year (versus 8 percent of the general pool).
Accentuating the MRI research, Nielsen wrote in a spring note to clients that 69 percent of DVR homes have a household income of $50,000-plus; 27 percent are at or over $100,000. The Nielsen note provided some verification for networks' contention that their shows are viewed by DVR users more than cable programs. For programs airing on every night but Saturday, Nielsen found that a large majority viewed in play-back mode were broadcast shows. On Thursdays, 65 percent of the playback viewing was for broadcast shows.
TiVo's new DVR behavior data will come from a new division of the company dedicated to the study of DVR usage. TiVo promises to provide advertisers with viewership and skipping data for ads viewed in time-shifted fashion--parsed by network, genre, day-part, and pod position. (Audience demo info will not be available). Viewership can be tracked up to 14 days after a live broadcast.
TiVo has found that its consumers watch programs 50 percent of the time in delayed mode and zap ads 70 percent of the time, according to The New York Times. On one level, the TiVo initiative is designed to keep pace with Nielsen's new commercial ratings, which promise to provide insight into whether ads viewed via DVRs are skipped.
The TiVo data will be based on a random anonymous analysis of 20,000 TiVo users each day. TiVo has a pool of 4.4 million homes to draw from. In an apparent shot at Nielsen, which measures viewership based on a sample of some 10,000-plus homes, TiVo said its research pool "is more than two times the size provided by most industry panels."
Ping
Makes sense to me. If you have DVR, that means you are more selective of what you watch and when you want to watch it. You don't just vegetate in front of whatever is on the box.
And the advertisers follow the eyeballs. Always...
Prepare for product placements galore and the "Tylenol CSI: New York Show" as advertisers look for ways to get around this trend.
The Suits at the networks may try this strategy in a futile attempt to hold on to paying advertisers, but I predict they'll simply follow the eyeballs and move to the internet...
Which is why I won't own a TIVO (or any other DVR device which has a data return link to "set the channels"). What I want is a device JUST LIKE A VCR, but which uses hard drives instead of tape.
Ever since I got my DVR I have most definately watched less TV, with the ability to pre-record my shows I dont have to sit and wait for other shows and commercials to view what I want, plus if I am watching a live program I can pause it and come back 30 minutes later which means I have less time to watch what comes next.
Purchase an HTPC, costs more but it guarantees you controll it not some faceless corporation trying to make money for tampons or douche.
I love my DVR and enjoy my TV a lot more with it. I end up watching less because I don't pointlessly chanel surf much anymore. I watch the shows that interest me when I want to watch them. Awesome.
I actually watch more TV now that I have a DVR. Before, even if I liked a particular show (e.g., South Park), I just couldn't be bothered to commit myself to a particular time each week. Now I can set up the DVR to automatically record all new episodes and I can watch them whenever I want, all at once and commercial free.
Even more irritating is the new trend of flashing commericials onto the screen as the show is running. Usually right after the regular commercials have run and right before the regular commericials begin.
This is perhaps one of the most irritating developments of TV, and the FCC should put a halt to it. Once the show starts, no damn commercials on the screen. Also, the FCC should make any provider of pay type TV screen out the commercials so viewers don't have to watch them. Either we pay through commercials or we pay directly, not both.
I love my DVR...We tape a show then start watching it about 20 min into it..after fast forwarding through the commercials you end up right on time at the end..
I look at commercials like taxes..if they were alot shorter I wouldn't have as much problem staying on the channel...but some of these shows have 3-5 minutes of commercials every 5 -8 minutes...I think just as with taxes less is more...
I was holding off on purchasing "home theater" stuff until a bit closer to the deadline to the forced "high-definition changeover" and for the "flat-screen TV" technology to settle down (and "reliable up") a bit.
Got any system recommendations??? Preferably not "build-it-yourself"---I already do too much of THAT.
I hate how the networks will run a commercial on a scroll just as a show starts back up again from a commercial break. They are incredibly distracting and now even include sound!
There are a lot of reasons people are not watching tv as much as they used to. Netflicks and DVR are just two. Usually, it is not some new tech, but the fact that there is just not anything on a person could watch and my wife will not allow me to watch an episode of MythBusters more than three times!
Which is why I get a message:
Subject: Please make a successful daily call
From: DirecTV
Date: July 27, 2006
The recorder has not made a successful daily call in 265 days. Please check to make sure that your phone line is connected and the proper settings have been programmed into the recorder.
Since TiVo I definitely watch MUCH less tv. I make sure the shows I want are recorded and I watch them when it's convenient. Kids too, watch less live tv and mostly what they have recorded.
If I have an hour free I catch that Deadwood or Soprano's episode. If I have 47 minutes free I catch up on that recorded "hour" Rescue Me or CSI or Law & Order without commercials. I definitely don't troll around live TV anymore.
In the winter I will sometimes set (classic or new) movies to record in the middle of the night just to have things to watch when I am bored.
Other than Yankee baseball and Rescue Me, there is really nothing new on in the summer anyway.
TiVo is truly one of the best inventions. I can't imagine TV without it anymore.
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