• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, January 6, 2009

Research conducted by experts in affluent-adult behavior found that among U.S. homes with incomes of $100,000-plus, more than 63% have a DVR. Not surprisingly, that's far above the 27% of all U.S. households.

The findings suggest that marketers looking to reach coveted upscale viewers may have an uphill battle if wealthier DVR owners are also rabid commercial-zappers.

The research from Ipsos Mendelsohn--culled from 1,200 interviews--indicates that some of the networks where upscale viewers are likely to skip ads are the Style Network, Fine Living and Versus. The research found 86.3% of all affluent viewers with DVRs watch the Style Network, 84.4% tune into Fine Living, and 80.9% view Versus.

(The likelihood of ads being skipped for those and other networks specifically was not directly addressed by the research, which covered 75 channels.)

There are 15 million U.S. homes with incomes of $100,000-plus that have DVRs. That group may gravitate to Style Network's fashion/design focus and the draw of Fine Living. However, the high Versus tune-in among this group it somewhat curious. Versus does carry cycling events, such as the Tour de France, that may play a role.

Richard Vogt, a vice president at Ipsos Mendelsohn, said those three networks likely have such high viewership among the affluent because they generally are offered on cable tiers that cost a premium. But he said: "Nickelodeon disproves that theory. It's not a blanket statement."

The widely distributed Nick is watched by 75.3% of homes with incomes of $100,000-plus with DVRs. VH-1 also has a high viewership among the group, at 73.7%.

The research found very little difference among the broadcast networks in their appeal among affluent DVR viewers: 65.9% watch Fox, followed by ABC (64.9%), CBS (64.6%) and NBC (64.5%).

Since 1977, Ipsos Mendelsohn has released an Affluent Survey, as it did in September. The new research is a supplemental. The 1,200 interviews that form the basis for the data were conducted in the final months of 2008.

The research also offered a psychographic profile of an affluent DVR owner, including they: *follow "the latest developments in the automotive world" *are "willing to pay more for a product that is environmentally safe" *"like to talk to others about what I buy" *are "willing to pay more for convenience"