One of the big advantages of a PVR is to skip the ads. Isn’t it? So you can discount 90% plus of these people surely?

The OzTAM data is for LIVE viewing only. Anyone who uses a DVR, their Foxtel iQ, their TiVo, burns to DVD, or records to VCR (yes they still exist) and then watch the programme back aren’t counted.

With the explosion in sales of DVRs, Foxtel’s push on iQ, and Seven backing TiVo this simply HAS to be having an effect.

The good news is that starting with the 2010 television year, OzTAM will be reporting any playback that occurs within seven days. All that unreported viewing will be reported, so expect 2010 to show growth on 2009, simply because the “lost” time-shifted viewing will be incorporated.

If you look at US data (Nielsen) around about 5% of all viewing is time-shifted (with a PVR penetration rate of around 25%), and in the UK around 4% (BARB) of all viewing is time-shifted (with a PVR penetration rate or around 23%). Given that Australia’s PVR is around the same, I’d expect to see around the same lift in 2010.

I wonder what the headlines will read this time next year? Don’t forget what Mark Twain is reported as saying upon reading his own obituary in the New York Journal … “the reports of my death are greatly exaggerated”.

chris a – nice figures but what do they actually mean. conference speak is lovely but falls down when it comes to real world scenarios generally.

OzTAM’s 2009 panels only capture and report live viewing, but from next year they’ll also release As Live (viewing on the same day) + Timeshift (viewing after the day of broadcast but viewed within seven days). Based on overseas data there’s good reason to believe the net effect will show an increase in total viewing in 000s and time spent viewing.

That’s only one additional consideration. Even with the current data we could look at changes by channel, variance across the year, commercial FTA vs total FTA, and so on. The real picture is complex and nuanced, and “viewers turn away from TV in 2009″ isn’t a particularly deep summary of the trends.

These viewers are still watching free-to-air TV, they are just not being counted by OzTam at present. Perhaps because they can easily skip the ads.

“There are currently four* billion mobile phones in use worldwide and there are almost seven billion people. Mobiles have exceeded the number of TVs and computers and unlike those devices, mobiles are carried everywhere and are hardly ever turned off. Achieving this milestone confirms there is continued solid demand in the mobile industry and it puts the global market on a path to reach a staggering six* billion connections by 2013. A captive audience of four billion people represents an awesome opportunity for advertisers to grab their attention, even though it’s on a small screen, with well targeted relevant advertising messages via mobile websites.”