Tag Archives: DVR

Apr 27 2013

The Following Finale is Monday + More Series Finales

If you have episodes for The Following backed up on your DVR, then it’s a good idea to get caught up this weekend on plots so when the finale airs Monday night you won’t be shocked (or spoiled).

Myself, I watched three episodes last week, two on Sunday and then the current one on Monday and walked around at work semi-dazed Tuesday morning. Almost everyone took one look at me and said “watched The Following last night huh?” Yes, it’s that intense.

What really shocked me is that my sister came to visit me at work last week and she said to me “so do you watch The Following? I can even sit down when I watch it!” Now my sister doesn’t like anything even mildly scary and she’s really into this show (It could just be Kevin Bacon). Same with my friend at work, her mom’s into this show. Same with my neighbor across the street. She came over on Wednesday and asked if I still had Monday’s episode on my DVR, her husband accidentally deleted it and she was about to kill him – could she watch mine and would I make her some coffee.

Tonight when I signed into my email account, Kevin Bacon was on WhoSay answering Twitter questions from fans about The Following. Each one was individually recorded and everything. He would take his glasses off , repeat the question, answer it. It was really cool. When my sister comes over this weekend I’m going to show her that and I bet she sits down for it. What … you don’t know about WhoSay? Well Google it  and find out.

Other finales for some series I watch include:

Castle (ABC) – Monday, May 13

NCIS (CBS) – Tuesday, May 14

CSI (CBS) – Wednesday, May 15

Elementary – Thursday, May 16

Criminal Minds (CBS) – Wednesday, May 22

Body of Proof (ABC) – Tuesday, May 28

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Oct 16 2012

2012-13 DVR Hits Tipping Point

Almost 46 percent of all households now own a DVR, up 4% from last year. We now watch less “live” TV, but more programming, thanks to DVRs (digital video recorders).

Younger viewers have been setting their own schedules via streaming, ondemand, delayed and what they have on their DVR, but new and returning shows “are adding significant audiences as nearly 46 percent of U.S. households now have a DVR (up from 42 percent last season)” according to The Hollywood Reporter 10.19.12.

From a February 29, 2012 Nielsen Wire article some old school and new school statistics dating back to 1960:

Then (1960): 7% of households received cable.
Then (1990): 56% received cable and 66% owned a VCR.
Then (2006): 89% of TV content is viewed live.

  • DVR usage accounts for 1.6% of our TV time.

Today:

  • 98% of homes own a TV and most have some kind of device hooked up to their television.
  • 85% of TV content is viewed live.
  • DVR usage accounts for 8% of our TV time.

With the increase of DVRs in viewer’s homes, episodes and series are now “scored” in a new way. For example, the second episode of NBC’s Revolution jumped more than 50% to a 5.2 rating among adults 18-49 with three days of delayed viewing (according to The Hollywood Reporter 10.19.12).

If you look at Nielsen, who has been providing timely information on media and consumer trends on TV since 1950 (radio since 1930) their “source” states: Live viewing and DVR playback on the Same Day, defined as 3am-3am. Ratings are the percentage of TV homes in the U.S. tuned into television.

But the whole point of having a DVR is to watch a show when it’s convenient for you. Copper on BBC America comes on at 9pm CST on Sunday I’m fast asleep by then. Since it’s on DVR I’m not that much in a hurry to watch it, but because I really enjoy the show and love Tom Weston-Jones, I sit down on Monday night and watch it.

DISH’s new “Hopper” aka the commercial-killer was the talk of the cable show in Boston in late May this year. While the Hopper’s automatic ad-skipping is limited to recorded broadcast TV for now, cable networks and distributors said it was a worrisome development.

Sep 14 2012

Welcome TV Watchers …

and Baby Boomers. Did you notice that during the recent Super Bowl the advertisers didn’t bother to talk to you? Which is a big mistake, according to Laurie Edwards-Tate, of Communities at WashingtonTimes.com.

Edwards-Tate notes “baby boomers born between 1946-1964 represent 26.3% of the country’s total population but control a third of all consumer spending – a whooping $2.1 trillion in annual buying power” as defined by the MetLife Mature Market Institute. According to Tate, that represents  more than 16x the buying power of Generation X (those born between 1965-1976) and Generation Y (1977-present).

My purpose for starting this blog is to provide you with information on quality television programming — it has nothing to do with advertising. Trust me, if the advertisers aren’t interested in talking to you, then the television programmers aren’t either. Especially, it seems lately, the major networks. Thank goodness there are many cable networks that are interested in providing quality television to ADULTS who are intelligent thinkers.

Let me warn you up front that you might not agree with how I define quality television. I was born in 1954. Smack dab in the middle of the “baby boomer” years. Comedy to me was Carol Burnett. There’s not a situation comedy show on TV now that I can stomach, so you won’t see me commenting on any.

I should also tell you that I’m watching my quality programs on a flat-screen television beamed into my living room by one of the best satellite services in the country. I have two DVRs (one is an HD DVR) so I rarely miss an episode of anything.

I won’t be summarizing shows or “spoiling” them. I will be commenting on how good writing, excellent character development, quality casting and superior acting all come together to entertain and engage us.