DVR Users & Advertisers

DVR users are watching commercials. When DVRs emerged, the marketing industry believed consumers would take advantage of the fast forward button and skip commercials. “The Myth of Fast Forwarding Past the Ads” by Brian Stelter reports the Nielsen Company clarified to marketers that DVR users, who playback programs within 3 days of recording, have increased their commercial viewings by 44%.  

This is great news for advertisers. The only issue is they must modify their advertising to appeal to those users watching commercials up to 3 days after their intended viewing. The article reports some advertisers are advertising early – using ads relevant for longer periods of time. The other tool has been to use contextual ads, ads using aspects of shows during which they advertise. The example used by Stelter is Toyota commercials during “The Walking Dead”. The commercials use zombies, the main subject of the show. The other great example is the various Superbowl commercials which all connect by using some reference to football.

The best part of this DVR user demographic: it is the ideal audience for advertisers. According to the article, the demographic includes young watchers and more financially set consumers, as DVR users are cable subscribers. Now, advertisers can rest assure that they have an audience and we, the audience, will watch more relevant, interesting ads.