Show's Title, in Symbols, Defies DVRs By BRIAN STELTER September 22, 2010
CBS knew that when it ordered a sitcom with a vulgar word in the title, it would get attention. The network also knew there would be some hand-wringing about the coarseness of popular culture. Here's what the network did not know: that the title would trip up some digital video recorders. It turns out that the search tools on some DVRs cannot find the new show, "$#*! My Dad Says," because the symbols cannot be read. (Maybe some DVR developers could not foresee a world where TV shows would have a dollar sign in the titles.) Before the show's premiere on Thursday, CBS released a viewers' guide of sorts on Wednesday to help people program their DVRs accordingly. The case illustrates how some TV networks have embraced the DVR, though tepidly. Despite the commercial-skipping abilities of the recording devices, highly rated shows become even more so when DVR playback is included in the Nielsen ratings that help determine prices for advertising time. About 38 percent of households now have DVRs, though the vast majority of programming is still watched in real-time. ... http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/23/business/media/23dad.html _______________________________________________ Medianews mailing list [email protected] http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
