I think we’re all familiar with TiVo and DVR’s which are both devices that allow viewers to watch time shifted programming.  The downside for advertisers is that the viewer can fast forward through the ads.  This has caused a great deal of discussion on many sides.  When these devices initially came on the market it was assumed that virtually anyone who time shifts in their viewing is going to fast forward through the commercials and miss the advertising.  But then Nielsen, under pressure from advertisers, began measuring how many people actually watched the commercials and they found that a significant number do actually watch advertisements.  Nevertheless, advertisers have suffered because of these recording devices.

Recently Time Warner has announced a new plan.  They will endeavor to provide a free version of the DVR, but it will not allow viewers to skip commercials.  If this catches on it could satisfy both sides, the viewer and the advertiser.  At a cable industry conference in late July, Jeffrey L. Bewkes, the president of Time Warner Inc. said “Our research and our in-market tests show people would rather have free everything you want, when you want.”  They are hopeful that viewers will choose these new devices over models that do allow for fast forwarding through the advertising.

I’ll keep you posted as this develops.