I read an article this morning which declared that owners of digital video recorder (DVR) consoles and hard drive recorders like MySky generally ignore all advertising on TV, but watch more TV that those without said consoles.

Half of DVR owners claim to fast-forward through all advertisements, and it appears that stay-at-home mothers are most acquainted with the fast-forward button - 9 out of 10 surveyed reported to not watch commercials when watching a recorded program on their DVR.

I am actually a recent convert to hard drive recording, having purchased a DVR about a month ago, for two reasons. The first was naturally, so I could record everything I enjoy watching during the week and watch my favourite shows at a convenient time (say, five shows in a row on a Sunday morning?). The second reason was, just like stay-at-home mums, to fast-forward ads. I actually made a point of buying a console with a thirty-second skip button, so I wouldn’t even have to keep an eye on my fast forwarding, I can just press that button eight times (advertisement breaks on New Zealand television are typically 4 minutes in total).

What does this mean for television advertising and its future? I can truly say that I am pretty much unaffected by small screen advertising, because I rarely even see it… but if television shows are funded solely on advertiser commercials, am I contributing to the jeopardisation of quality television on New Zealand screens?

Image from Flickr.