http://www.adjab.com/2006/07/06/abc-wants-to-kill-dvr-ad-skipping/
Posted Jul 6th 2006 4:56PM by Chris Thilk Filed under: Gripes, Television (Warning: You may want to go to your happy place before reading this.) ABC executives have held discussions with the people providing consumers with DVRs about a potential future feature for the devices that would disable the ad-skipping. That's just one of the comments made by ABC President of Advertising Sales Mike Shaw following the networks' finally closing out their upfront session. Shaw feels that everyone on the ad-delivery side of the equation, from networks to cable operators, should be on the side of no-DVR-skippage since they all rely on selling ads. He doesn't think this is going to be a big deal for consumers, since they'll still be so happy the can easily record their shows for later that they'll barely notice and definitely won't be part of any backlash. This despite frequent assertions that most people considering DVRs are doing so for the ad-skipping feature. Shaw says he felt ABC was hung out to dry by other networks who folded so quickly to buyer demands that prices not include DVR viewings. Terry Heaton also called "BS" on this whole argument by Shaw. Heaton points out that the networks effectively shot themselves in the foot, shins, kneecaps and hip bones on this issue by turning more and more time over to ads, leading to the consumer backlash that prompted DVRs to catch on in the first place. He even has a graph from eMarketer that shows commercial skipping is the second most important thing people are looking for from a DVR. I'm going to be blunt here and say Shaw has his head in a very uncomfortable place. Killing DVR ad-skipping is a bad idea. If the other networks left you dangling on real-time ad numbers in the upfronts maybe it's not because you're the smartest guy in the room. Consumers are exercising more and more control over what they spend their money on and ad buyers are consumers in their own right. Shaw needs to stop bashing the devices that people enjoy using and spend more time re-figuring his networks business model. Gregory S. Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
