DVR, Once TV\'s Mortal Foe,

¶ … DVR, Once TV's Mortal Foe, Helps Ratings" by Bill Carter (2009) concerns the effects of the digital video recorder (DVR) upon advertising ratings and the popularity of otherwise somewhat mediocre shows. The article indicates that DVR technology has defied all expectations to the contrary and increased rather than decreased both advertising revenue and the popularity of certain shows.

I chose the piece because of its relevance for media technology today. The DVR is in increasing use in households today, and concerns about its effects on the future of television were legitimate from a logical viewpoint. What makes the article interesting is that these concerns have been proved entirely unnecessary.

An interesting point the article makes to explain the phenomenon is that television viewers tend to be passive. Some of them have become so passive that they do not even bother to skip advertisements while watching a digital recording. Instead, they simply watch the recording as they would a live show. When considered in terms of the long-term survival of television and its lifeblood in terms of advertising revenue, it appears that the passive nature of the audience will feed this form of entertainment for a long time to come.

The information in the article is both well-written and well-documented. The author uses statements by recognized experts, concomitantly with citations of studies to investigate the trends within the television audience. The use of such factual information lends to the piece a very persuasive style. This persuasiveness is enhanced by the fact that most modern readers would easily relate to the material.

Most, if not all, Western households today have at least one television set, of which many are furnished with some form of digital or other recording technology. It is therefore interesting to learn how television and its revenue operate, and about the effect of recording technology.