• Reuters, Thursday, November 17, 2005 11:32 AM

In a rare hand-holding move, the major television networks have come together to tell the world that they really like digital video recorders--you know, those devices everyone says will ultimately kill the 30-second TV commercial. Far from undermining the commercial value of broadcast television, DVRs are a positive for the TV industry because they boost audiences, CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, the WB, and UPN said, as reported by Cnet. American homes with DVRs (about 8 percent) watch 5.7 hours of TV versus homes without DVRs, who watch 5.1 hours. However, this is not to say that DVRs boost advertisers' audiences, because over 90 percent of viewers said they skip ads when they play back shows. Still, the networks say the silver lining is that 58 percent of viewers pay attention to ads in fast-forward mode and 53 percent stop for ads they think are interesting. Meanwhile, the networks, while enjoying their larger audiences, are also preparing for the future, scrambling to put their programs on cell phones, iPods, the Internet, and on-demand television.

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