Despite DVR, Viewers Still Spud-like By Mark Fleischmann November 5, 2009 — When the DVR first came along, TV and ad executives quaked. They feared the convenience of hard-drive recorders would lead to an orgy of commercial skipping and undermine Nielsen ratings. But the opposite has happened and the media business is smiling.

DVR household penetration has risen to 33 percent this year, a five percent increase from last year. But nearly half of DVR viewers are still couch potatoes, passively using the medium, and sitting through commercials. That includes 46 percent in the coveted 18- to 49-year-old category. Broadcasters and advertisers better understand the situation now that Nielsen has been tracking DVR viewers over the past two years.

Thus the DVR has become a hit maker. Shows that have benefited include House on Fox, How I Met Your Mother on CBS, and Heroes on NBC. For some shows, DVR viewers are making the difference between life and death.

But that cuts both ways. As The New York Times explains: "When NBC added the The Jay Leno Show at 10 each weeknight, it boasted that the show would be 'DVR proof,' meaning that because the humor was topical, viewers were more likely to watch it live, avoiding much of the commercial-skipping that was expected to plague recorded shows. Now being 'DVR proof' looks like a disadvantage. Mr. Leno's shows were among the few with three-day commercial ratings lower than their live ratings. Not enough people have been recording the show and playing it back to overcome the commercial-skipping being done by a percentage of its live viewers."