In the United States, TV advertising is a multi-billion dollar
industry, run by giant corporations that are always trying to increase their
profit margins. I believe that DVR use will not cut into TV ad revenue
because companies will still charge as much as they did before to air commercials
live despite this fairly new recording technology. It is funny to entertain that broadcasting
companies would lower their prices because the DVR was introduced to the
market. These corporations are afraid that
fast-forwarding will reduce viewers from seeing advertising, but they are
wrong.
DVR recordings don’t replace 100% of live viewers, and
advertisers know it. In fact, most
viewers still plan to watch their favorite shows when they air in real
time. It is also imprudent to assume
that all DVR users fast forward through commercials at all. If it is a commercial the viewer enjoyed,
they will probably watch it. What I don’t
understand is shouldn’t broadcast networks be more concerned about the increase
of viewers accessing their favorite shows free online?
Over the years, the length of advertisement breaks per hour has
slowly increased from under ten minutes in the 1970’s to over 20 minutes today,
and frankly customers get fed up with it.
An invention like the DVR is a backlash in customer disatisfaction and
that is just how the market goes in a capitalist economy.
Back in the day, broadcasting companies were afraid of VHS
recordings for the same reason. They were wrong and the market showed little to
no impact from VHS recordings. As long
as broadcasting companies don’t push their viewers too far, a little DVR isn’t
going to hurt anybody.
