December 22nd, 2005
Nielsen to Add DVR Numbers to Its Ratings
By Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews
In a move to keep up with technology, Nielsen Media Research will begin measuring the viewing of digital video recorders next week.
Nielsen will now offer three ratings per program and network: Live, Live/Same Day (which includes same-day playback via DVR) and Live+7 Day Ratings (live along with time-shifted viewing up to 168 hours after airing). The first overnight ratings with live and same-day sets of data will be Wednesday; the first Live+7 streams will be available two weeks after the Monday to Sunday cycle. Source: News.com
The article went on to indicate that networks will move from live ratings to Live+7, at which point it indicated that advertisers may still be dreaming. 
Eventually, NBC Universal, for instance, will move from using live ratings as currency to using Live+7, though NBC executives realize that it’s going to take a while. But that also will set up a potential conflict between the networks, who will want to point to the higher ratings with time-shifted viewing, and advertisers, who say it still isn’t clear whether viewers fast-forward past ads during playback.
We Say: Er, I’m sorry, I have a DVR and I never watch commercials, at least with recorded programming. I will always skip them and the only time I will watch one is if I happen to spy a little piece of one that I find interesting, and then back up to look at it. In fact, I rarely watch live TV. Nowadays, the closest I come is perhaps watching a program after it’s been recording for about 20 minutes (so I can miss all the commercials in a one hour program). The only possible exception is when watching sports, and frankly, the 49ers have been so bad this season I usually record the game and skip the huddle time between plays. Or maybe if the TV is on as background noise.
Finally, I’m really not sure why anyone with a DVR would watch the commercials if they’re watching recorded programming. And I really don’t understand why advertisers would continue to fool themselves into thinking they would.
John B says:
Maybe the same people who watch recorded commercials are the same people who must love watching 10 plus minutes of movie trailers and commercials on videos? I myself really hate it when I pop in a video, hit play and head off to make to make popcorn, grab a drink and sit down in front of the tube only to have to hit the rewind button to catch the beginning. It reminds of of the glory days of VCR’s and video tapes and, least we forget, cable TV when you paid for the pleasure of NOT seeing commercials.
December 23rd, 2005 at 6:11 am
MissingFrame says:
I watch commercials on recorded programs because I’ve not had my remote implanted yet. All the TV I watch is while I’m doing something else, like housework, etc. The reason why I use the DVR is so I can pause while emptying the trash or rewind because I missed a good part, or simply time-shift because I sleep at night.
I still hate commercials, though.
December 23rd, 2005 at 7:53 am
Alice says:
I have gone back occasionally to catch what I thought might be an interesting product that flew by while I hit the 30 second skip button on my TiVo, or sometimes I see a show promo that reminds me to shedule it to record and I go back to catch the exact date and time, so I would say I have seen commercials. But if you add up those few times with the millions I would have suffered through or avoided by stepping out of the room, there is no comparison.
Sometimes I get involved with blogging and the commercials play. But I always snap out of it in horror and start skipping forward to the show. The real question is, if I could get shows with only tech product commericals or something like that - maybe tech and cars - I wonder if I would actually watch a few?
Would you?
December 23rd, 2005 at 8:22 am
Alice says:
By the way - TiVo users. In case you are the last person alive who missed this one. To enable the 30 second skip feature hidden in the
->| key:
Play a show
while it is playing hit:
select, play, select, 3, 0, select
You’ll get two tones when you activated the feature. If the power goes out or your restart your TiVo, you’ll have to re-enable it. I learned that the hard way while watching the Apprentice. I hit the 30 second skip and saw the person who got fired riding off in the cab at the end of the show. So much for suspense.
December 23rd, 2005 at 8:27 am
Michael Santo says:
Good comment, Alice. I have a DISH PVR which means the skip is built in (not hidden) … but so are all the bugs …
December 23rd, 2005 at 12:04 pm
Parry says:
mlm lead M
April 10th, 2007 at 12:01 am