Even on fast-forward, users of TiVos and other DVRs may still take in advertising messages. Plus: New Sprint gadget targets AT&T, Comcast
SAN FRANCISCO (Business 2.0 Magazine) - With TV's upfront advertising sales set to start next month, the habits of TiVo owners and other digital video recorder users -- who comprise about 9 percent of the audience, a figure that's set to double by the end of 2006 -- are a hot issue. Two seemingly contradictory reports have come out. The first claims, unsurprisingly, that DVR viewers skip ads so much that they barely add anything to the TV ratings advertisers pay for. The second *argues* that even though viewers fast-forward through commercials, they still recall the ads just as well as viewers who watch in real time. The reason, a hopeful CBS executive tells MediaDailyNews, is that when fast-forwarding, a viewer's attention is necessarily fixed on the screen so that they don't miss their show. So they still see the advertiser's message, albeit speeded up and without sound. Regular TV viewers, on the other hand, are prone to such advertiser-unfriendly habits as getting snacks and going to the bathroom during commercial breaks.
http://money.cnn.com/2006/04/07/tech...0407/index.htm
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