TiVo and DVRs
October 29, 2007
I have read that 20% of TV viewers use a TiVo or an equivalent device to record shows for later viewing.
This means that 80% don't. I am writing for this 80%.
I use one. It costs $6 a month. Given the value of my time, it is worth far more. I record the shows I like. There are not many. Then I watch them in my spare time.
I fast forward through the commercials. This has reminded me just how many minutes of commercials are in every one-hour network TV show.
Next, I can record shows that I can then transfer permanently to discs on my DVD recorder, which also records. I save music shows and documentaries this way. I suppose I could save classic movies that are not available in stores. If I did not have a DVD of Hallmark's "The Marva Collins Story" (1981), I would have done this.
I can watch shows on Sunday, when I don't do work. I can watch them on evenings after I have put in my 12 hours. The machine lets me fit my viewing into my down-time schedule, not the broadcasters' schedules.
These machines are undermining TV advertising. Companies may get the target markets they want, but these markets can skip through the ads. This practice will inevitably spread.
Except for commercials for live sports events, where watching a re-run is rarely anyone's first choice, TV ad revenue will fall. Companies will find that they are paying for ads not viewed. They will have to find other outlets.
This will erode further the dying TV networks. They are facing what printed newspapers are facing: shrinking markets. They will keep older people who resist digital technology. Younger audiences with money are as good as gone.
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