By David B. Wilkerson
New research indicates that viewers who use digital video
recorders to watch their favorite broadcast TV shows tend to watch
shows recorded between 8 and 10 p.m. - and that many of them appear
to be skipping 10 p.m. telecasts altogether.
TiVo Inc. (TIVO) said Thursday that according to its latest
analysis of programs seen on ABC (DIS), CBS (CBS), NBC (GE) and
Fox, shows in the 9 p.m. hour were the most likely to be watched on
a DVR at a later time during February, with 59% of viewers opting
for such "timeshifting." About 58% of viewers timeshifted shows
that aired in the 8 p.m. hour.
Fox is owned by News Corp. (NWS)(NWSA), which also owns
MarketWatch and Dow Jones Newswires, publishers of this report.
During the 10:00 hour, there was a drop-off in DVR viewership,
with 53% recording shows seen in that time slot, and 47% opting to
watch live.
TiVo's study also found that about 30% of shows recorded on a
DVR were watched within an hour of the program's live airing.
That development is hurting shows in the 10 p.m. time slot, said
Todd Juenger, vice president and general manager of TiVo's audience
research and measurement department. "Much of the timeshifted
viewing from the 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. airings stomps out the audience
that would historically watch 10 p.m. programming in live mode,"
Juenger explained. "...While some viewers will record programs
aired at 10 p.m. for viewing later in the week, many are abandoning
that hour of television altogether."
News that 10 p.m. shows are being pushed aside could be
particularly distressing for NBC, which has given comedian Jay Leno
that slot five nights a week starting next fall in a plan that has
met with widespread skepticism.
TiVo is best known for its pioneering role in the development of
the digital video recorder, which allows viewers to pause, rewind,
play back or instantly replay any broadcast by recording it onto a
computer hard drive.
The company's StopWatch service gets its data from a daily,
anonymous, stratified random sample of 20,000 TiVo units -- from
which a second-by-second "clickstream" of behavior and viewership
is collected and assessed.
StopWatch has been available since February 2007, and has data
going back to September 2006.
In recent years, advertisers and television executives have
worried that viewers would be unlikely to sit through commercials
in a DVR environment, since the device makes it easy to
fast-forward past the ads.
However, data show that some members of the audience do pause,
even while skipping, to watch some commercials, and the industry is
anxious to find out why.
Among the commercials least likely to be fast-forwarded during
TiVo's February study were ads from Monster.com, E*Trade, and a
number of foreign auto makers including Mercedes-Benz (DAI),
Hyundai (HYNDF), Lexus and Nissan (NSANY).
Juenger said that while it isn't surprising that viewers would
want to see ads about job opportunities and financial advice during
a severe economic downturn such as the one that has persisted since
last September. He said he hadn't expected to see the increased
interest in foreign cars, however, at a time when car sales are
down in the U.S.
"Perhaps consumers are keeping a careful eye out for special
deals, or maybe the dearth of advertising from the Big Three auto
manufacturers is making these other car ads stand out?"
General Motors (GM) Ford (F) and Chrysler have severely
curtailed their ad spending in the past year.
-David B. Wilkerson; 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com