Americans Watching TV Less Due To DVRs - Niesen and MediaPost

For Nielsen to write this, and MediaPost too, and not point to The Internet and video is myopic at best.

Nielsen Finds Drop In TV Usage Is Real, Not Methodological, Impact Greatest Among Heavy Viewers

by Joe Mandese, Monday, Aug 27, 2007 9:00 AM ET

IN AN EFFORT TO ADDRESS client concerns over declines in TV usage this year, Nielsen has issued a report concluding the drop most likely is due to real changes in TV viewing behavior and is not due to TV ratings methods, or new technologies like DVD players, video game systems or digital video recorders (DVRs). But while concluding that "no single factor played a predominant role" in the declines, the Nielsen report found that the biggest impact was felt among TV's heaviest viewing households.

The report does not offer any explicit explanations as to why TV usage has declined, and Nielsen said it did not analyze the impact of changes in programming or in weather patterns that may have been a contributing factor. However, the report includes an ominous finding suggesting that the biggest impact may be among TV's biggest users.
After drilling into data for the 12 TV markets hat have had the biggest losses in TV tuning over the past year, Nielsen found that, "that the biggest losses in tuning appear to be coming from the homes that tuned the most last year."

While the presence of DVRs in and of themselves was not deemed a contributing factor, Nielsen said that the addition of a DVR into a TV household appears to reduce overall usage levels in those households.

"The biggest losses in tuning appear to be coming from the homes that tuned the most last year," Nielsen reported. "Some homes are tuning relatively more this year, these are generally the lowest tuning homes in the panel; the heavy tuners who acquire DVRs tend to tune less, more than offsetting these increases, resulting in overall [households using television] declines."

The report added that the changes in tuning cannot be attributed solely to the acquisition of DVRs, and that Nielsen plans to conduct additional research into how the addition of DVRs impacts TV usage in those households.

Nielsen said the penetration of DVRs in its sample has grew from about 7% a year ago, to 17% this year as a result of actual increases in DVR penetration, as well as in Nielsen's ability to recruit more DVR households. Nielsen's sample is still considered to be slightly lower in DVR penetration than the actual U.S. population.

"While the inclusion of DVR homes in the sample this year has been ruled out as the driving force behind the viewing level changes, it is clear that it has introduced a different viewing dynamic in these homes," the report concludes, adding, "A full discussion of how viewing changes when a home acquires a DVR will be presented in a separate communication that will look at homes in our Local and National People Meter samples."

Joe Mandese is Editor of MediaPost.

Ms USA Tells Us How To Spot A Geographically Smart American - Video

MICHAEL VICK SUSPENDED INDEFINITELY - NFL STATEMENT - NFLMEDIA.COM

This is from the website of NFLMedia.com and was released today, August 24th, 2007

MICHAEL VICK SUSPENDED INDEFINITELY

Commissioner Roger Goodell notified Michael Vick today that he is suspended indefinitely without pay from the National Football League, effective immediately.

Following are excerpts from Commissioner Goodell’s letter to Vick:

· “Your admitted conduct was not only illegal, but also cruel and reprehensible. Your team, the NFL, and NFL fans have all been hurt by your actions.”

· “Your plea agreement and the plea agreements of your co-defendants also demonstrate your significant involvement in illegal gambling. Even if you personally did not place bets, as you contend, your actions in funding the betting and your association with illegal gambling both violate the terms of your NFL Player Contract and expose you to corrupting influences in derogation of one of the most fundamental responsibilities of an NFL player.”

· “You have engaged in conduct detrimental to the welfare of the NFL and have violated the league’s Personal Conduct Policy.”

· “I will review the status of your suspension following the conclusion of the legal proceedings. As part of that review, I will take into account a number of factors, including the resolution of any other charges that may be brought against you, whether in Surry County, Virginia, or other jurisdictions, your conduct going forward, the specifics of the sentence imposed by Judge Hudson and any related findings he might make, and the extent to which you are truthful and cooperative with law enforcement and league staff who are investigating these matters.”

· “I have advised the Falcons that, with my decision today, they are no longer prohibited from acting and are now free to assert any claims or remedies available to them under the Collective Bargaining Agreement or your NFL Player Contract.”

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Mark Cuban Says "Internet Is Boring" But Just Trying To Move The Speed Needle For His Content

In an interview with Lloyd Grove at Portfolio, Dallas Maverick's owner Mark Cuban said "The Internet is dead and boring" and suggested that an increase of Internet speeds to the home of up to 1 G per second would do the trick.

But the question to ask is would the cost to do this launch the creation of a two-tier Internet -- one for the rich and the other for the poor?

Stay tuned.

Hillary Clinton - NeoCon (Neo Conservative) - Video

Video - Barack Obama With John Stewart On The Daily Show - Comedy Central

Barack Obama hit The Daily Show with John Stewart and was himself a hit. He focused on how the campaign deals with the often innaccurate perceptions issued by some media outlets like (my addition here) The Chicago Sun Times. With Barack appearance and Senator Clinton's support for the current Iraq War strategy, it's been an important week to say the least.

Michelle Obama Speaking In General Terms - Sun Times and AOL Being Evil

Someone over at CNN said to me that the media loves to make controversy of nothing. Here's an example. Michelle Obama was taking up a theme that the Senator himself started on Father's Day: the responsibility of men -- black men -- to their families. She's making a basic point that you have to have your family life in order if you're going to run the White House.

For anyone to spin that to a Clinton issue is just plain retarted. AOL's trying to do this, but then AOL's been trying to tear down Obama since he entered the race. So has the Sun Times, which has two reporters that do nothing but write stupid drivel aboout Senator Obama.