Audio Video News

In these TiVo-centric times it's tough for advertisers to figure out how to get their expensive to produce and place commercial messages in front of people. The burgeoning DVR market allows more and more users to not only time shift their content, but to zip right past those commercials the advertisers have paid millions of dollars to place on your favorite show. While the TV networks keep coming up with studies showing that their customers' ads are still buying them some impact with the DVR- generation, a recent survey from DIGDIA shows viewers would pay more for on-demand movie content to avoid commercials entirely.

Movies on-demand is another market segment with tremendous growth potential. Satellite and cable providers are providing more on-demand content all the time, including HD content. The research firm DIGDIA recently asked potential on-demand viewers about their preferences for watching movies at home. They were asked to rank, in order of preference, whether they'd prefer to pay $2.99 for a movie with ads, or $3.99 for a movie without, or buying the DVD.

The result was a landslide: 44% of respondents would rather pay $3.99 and watch their movies commercial free, while only 17% would take the 25% discount and watch the movie for $2.99. Buying the DVD came in a strong second place with 27% of respondents preferring that method of viewing, and while we know that's not free of ads for the content providers' fare, at least those trailers can be avoided in most cases!

Interestingly, while some computer companies are looking to media PCs as a new source of revenue, only 12% of the respondents in the DIGDIA survey preferred watching a movie on their PC vs. their TV.