Guilty Pleasure

The NYT reports the ad world once feared DVR's is now embracing them. The concern was viewers would fast forward through ads, the advertisers would see less results and ad revenues would decline. I remember discussing this with local TV salespeople a few years ago and their response was, "viewers now watch more TV and they'll watch an ad for a product they're interested in." It must have been a "Spots & Dots" article, because they all quoted the same rhetoric.

Fast forward a few years and the reports seem to mirror this viewpoint.

What's frightening is I got a DVR in '04 and now watch more TV than ever. Before my DVR, I really only had one program I watched regularly. And my friends knew not to call during that one hour a week. Now, I'm following several shows. I don't think I could have gotten addicted to "24" without a DVR. When I find a new show that's been on a few seasons, having a DVR allows me to find older episodes. The DVR has become an enabler for me to watch too much TV.

I think back to the first year I lived in Milwaukee and didn't even have cable. Or the Internet (it was '94). I even subscribed to the local paper.

My new love of TV has been my guilty pleasure. At least I'm not alone.