My wife and I have had TiVo since about 2005. My brother had it for several years before that, and he also introduced our dad to it. We’re hooked: there’s nothing like being able to record/play shows whenever you want to, and of course the absolute best feature is the ability to whiz through five minutes of commercials in about five seconds. I’ve watched a whole lot of the Olympics in the past several days, and I don’t think I’ve sat through a single commercial.
Tivo claims only 3.5 million users out there, but of course there are other brands. Comcast, for example, offers DVR’s to its customers, but considering what a piece-o-crap it is (see thread in IMHO forum), I’d be surprised if its user count is more than a fraction of what Tivo has.
Take a wild-ass guess, and suppose there are currently 5 million US households with DVR’s, out of 115M households. That’s less than 5%, but considering the amazing benefits DVR’s offers to the end user, it seems to me that the user count can only increase, with the result that more and more of the viewing audience is able to avoid seeing commercials entirely. Advertisers of course know that Tivo and the like make their ads just that much more ineffective, so it would stand to reason that they are not going to be willing to pay as much for a 30-second TV spot.
So…is that the case? Anyone know if DVR’s are depressing ad revenue for TV stations? If so, is it a cause for immediate concern on the part of those TV stations, or are they calmly debating what steps they will need to take 5/10/15 years from now?
PVRs are very popular in the U.K. Now, I’m not a great watcher of TV, but I think I’ve seen an improvement in the quality of many ads to make them worth watching. Further, I’ve seen an increase in programme sponsorship: there’s a 5 - 10 second bit before and after the ads with a perforce very brief message which can only be there to take advantage of people fast-forwarding through the ads by giving them a ‘landing zone’.
I don’t have a Tivo because I find even that too limiting. I have a home theater PC attached to my TV. Haven’t watched a commercial in months. Sure I miss out on the occasional cultural reference here and there, but it’s well worth it. It’s like being given the gift of time. No longer are we tethered to the schedule of TV networks - if I want to watch an episode of Bones at 6am the next day and at a compressed play time (minus commercials, annoying intros) I damn well will.
Coupled with internet TV, streaming, etc I do think the networks and TV providers are worrying. One thing is for sure: the old model needs to go eventually. I have a feeling however, that just like the recording industry, this sector will inch towards change kicking and screaming.
I also love my TiVo, even though it is far superior to all the DVRs made by cable companies that I have seen I wouldn’t be surprised if the cable companies DVRs where even more popular than the TiVo brand ones. It requires much more effort to get a TiVo working with your cable and sometimes you may loose features (in my area you loose on demand shows and movies)
Bell Expressvu - a satellite provider in Canada - also offers a DVR as one of the receiver choices. I used to have a stand-alone Panasonic DVR, but there’s no doubt the tie-in to the TV guide information is worth a lot. We’ve pretty much skipped commercials since 2004. Once in a while we forget and try to fast-forward on live TV.
I suspect you see a lot of those screen-corner ads - mostly for upcoming shows, that take up the bottom right or left of your screen during the show; usually jsut after a commercial. They are getting fancier, more animated and more in your face. I suspect it’s only a matter of time (and rules?) before those become product adds too.
I am surprised that most stations seem to use the last few seconds (the “landing zone”?) for promoting upcoming shows and station ID rather than selling that prime real estate to paying sponsors.
I had read once that in the later days of fast-forward (we now have “skip 30 seconds”) the idea was to make the logo remain stationary on part of the screen for the whole commercial, so it was there for long enough to register visually during fast-forward.
Tivos and other branded DVRs are one reasons ad revenues are down, but I think a its just a minor issue in the big picture. The splintering of audiences across hundreds of channels, the diversion of audiences to other outlets, and the downturn in the economy are the larger reasons. I think the latter is the biggest issue, especially in local markets (as opposed to national ad sales). The auto industry has typically been the biggest spender, and those dollars have disappeared.
Since 2005 Nielsen has been counting TiVo and other DVR type devices with it’s “Nielsen Families.”
You have to remember that if you’re not a Nielsen family what you watch doesn’t matter. If not one knows you’re watching it, then they don’t know you’re not watching it either.
There are also DVRs integrated with satellite receivers from DirecTV. The early models used to be TiVo-based, but for some number of years now, they’ve been of their own design. I have 2 of 'em. I think they’re great. Record 2 shows from the satellite, download on-demand programming via the Internet, and play back either a locally-recorded show or one on another DVR, all at the same time.
