I read in the 06/04/07 issue of Television Week an article by Adam Armbruster of consultancy Eckstein, Summers, Armbruster & Co. that quoted an interesting research study that looked at DVR users’ viewing behavior (general market).

It should come as no surprise to anyone that has a DVR at home that at least some people fast-forward through commercials when watching recorded content. What was surprising to me, however, was that the study found that households without DVRs skip more commercials than those with DVRs. How could that be?

The study was conducted by Alan Wurtzel, president of NBC Universal TV Research, by analyzing Nielsen Media Research data. Consider the source, I always say. The results show that the drop in ad effectiveness in households with DVRs is less than three percent, while that in non-DVR homes is seven percent.

Television of Yore

What’s happening? The results are attributed to non-DVR households’ use of the remote control to change the channel or mute the television as the main drivers of this effect. Even if the numbers are skewed somehow, it’s remarkable to see that even in households that don’t have a DVR, skipping commercials is not an insignificant occurrence that can impact the performance of television advertising.

What to do about it? Give consumers what they want and they won’t skip. Develop, produce, and air relevant and compelling content that consumers will choose to watch. Remember those television shows that show the best commercials of the year? Those aren’t industry or trade programming; they are mass-appeal, prime time specials.

That suggests that people will tune in to watch interesting or funny or poignant or amazing or (insert adjective here) commercials. People will want to watch good content (in whatever form, even 30-second video). It’s up to us to deliver that content to them with our brand’s message.

As an aside, in the same week, Advertising Age published an article about commercial ratings (can’t wait for that) and DVRs. That article says that “network executives estimate [that] more than half of [DVR viewers watching recorded content] skip the ads altogether.” The article wasn’t specifically about commercial skipping, but it did include that tidbit which contradicts what the other network executive (above) is saying. Consider the source indeed.