NBC to end DVR antagonism

[Gregg Lengling]

Looks like NBC is finally going to be putting an end to one of their more odious practices: scheduling shows by a minute or two off in order to purposefully create the kind of scheduling conflicts that prevents TiVos and other digital video recorders from properly recording shows. Not as massive of a problem as it used to be now that there are more and more dual-tuner DVRs on the market, but even so it's a totally weak tactic that creates a lot of needless frustration for viewers—if they want to make it harder to watch television then we can probably find something else to do with our time. At least in theory.

[Joseph S]

So that leaves ABC

[summerfun]

Glad to see they wised up. It was always an annoyance to me, but a loss of customer satisfaction for them. In the end, they were the big losers. Too many choices of entertainment these days to tick off your viewers.

[borghe]

actually I always read this was done for ratings. I never even heard of the DVR aspect. If you always look it's the big shows that run 1-2 minutes longer. This means when you watch lost you are watching it until 8:02pm thus giving a ratings bump for the 8-8:30pm block even though the show you are watching is from the 7:30-8pm block. When Nielsen measures it (for advertising purposes of course) it creates a higher viewership for that block and tuhs higher ad costs to advertisers.

DVRs mostly have gotten around it (except for single tuner ones). If NBC is ending it I seriously believe it is because of advertiser pressure. Just my guess.

[Mark Strube]

Well, with NBC placing last in the ratings game, they can't afford to piss anyone off these days - viewers or advertisers.