• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, October 3, 2007

ABC's "Private Practice" has become the first new 2007-08 series to crack the top-20 shows that TiVo users selected to record every episode this season.

The "Grey's Anatomy" spinoff had been outside the top-50, then shot up 35 slots last week as it debuted to solid ratings. (Even during the pre-season marketing blitzes by networks, no new show made the top-25 until "Private Practice" during Premiere Week.)

TiVo now ranks the drama 17th in what it calls its rankings of "Most-Recorded Shows"--which is derived from how many users cue up their devices for a "Season Pass," the option to record every episode going forward.

Reasons for "Private Practice's" appeal among TiVo users could range from interest in the show, due to its link with "Grey's," to its place in a competitive time slot. DVR users could opt to record one show during Wednesday at 9, while watching another live.

"Private Practice" actually finished second in the time period last week, with a 5.2 rating in the 18-to-49 demo, behind another new-show premiere, NBC's "Bionic Woman" at 5.7. CBS's "Criminal Minds" came in third at 3.5, below what was by one measure a 3.9 average last season.

CBS offers visitors to its Web site a user-friendly way to "Get a TiVo Season Pass" for a particular show, with a prominent button to click on located on the pages for a series. Only six months ago, that would have been a surprise, with DVRs and their ad-zapping capabilities still considered at least a partial threat to the network business model.

Now, with ad buyers and sellers using new ratings as currency that take into account DVR viewership, a network can look for as many viewers as possible. (Viewers who skip ads with DVRs will always be an issue.)

Referring to its rankings as "Most-Recorded Shows" is somewhat of a misnomer on TiVo's part, since they are based on the shows that users most frequently record via a "Season Pass." But masses of users can select to record a specific show individually, rather than opt for the full run.

Also, the rankings where "Private Practice" jumped up the charts are only based on one week's data, a snapshot. Nonetheless, the data could offer an early indication as to which shows will receive the highest ratings bumps once DVR viewing figures are added to the "live plus same day" results. (Not surprisingly, hits "Grey's," "Desperate Housewives," "House," "CSI" and "Heroes" occupy the top-five slots in Season Pass rankings.)

However, there are only about 4.4 million homes with TiVo devices, maybe one-fifth of the estimated 20% with DVRs (there are 112.8 million U.S. TV homes). And TiVo users may record in greater numbers than their counterparts with so-called generic DVRs, since they are often described as tech-savvy early-adopters.