Duke study: TiVo doesn't hurt TV advertising

TiVo hasn't hurt television advertising or changed consumers' buying behavior, reports a Duke University researcher. Carl Mela, a professor in Duke's Fuqua School of Business, says that the ability to skip through the advertisements has had no effect on buying behavior and that not as many people fast-forward through television commercials as originally feared.

"Companies are afraid of a 'TiVo effect' and are changing their media spending as a result," says Mela. "But we find no change in people's shopping patterns when we compare a group that has TiVo with a group that doesn't. The manufacturers' fears seem to be overstated."

Mela attributes the lack of impact to several factors:

• About 95 percent of people still watch television live and, as a result, cannot fast forward through the commercials.
• Even those without a DVR can skip commercials by using the breaks to go to the kitchen or flip to a different channel.
• While viewers fast-forwarded through about 70 percent of the commercials in shows they recorded, they still watch the screen to know where to resume play, meaning they are still being exposed to the advertisements.
• The ability to record a show and watch it later means consumers are watching more television.