Well, well, well…so it seems the networks were spectacularly wrong about the many, many hours they spent whining to judges that DVR would destroy their industry forever so the bad bad technology behind it simply HAD to be banned.

To which I extend both middle fingers and advise the networks to perform a biologically impossible act of reproduction.

Anyway, it seems that television actually saw benefit from DVR.  Here’s the nifty thing: as it turns out, most people did NOT skip commercials with their DVRs because they didn’t actually do anything with them.  They didn’t channel hop, they didn’t fast forward, minimal rewinding and pausing, too…seems television really IS a passive activity.

But what really helped out the networks was that the folks at Nielsen altered their ratings gathering systems and included DVR viewings.  Turned out the shows were actually better watched than expected…just not always in their time slots.  People who might be, say, working through “prime time” (like anybody on second or third shift), would record on their DVR and watch later.  And they’d watch the whole thing, not just the program in question.

So now, the networks get to make a better case with advertisers and make more money selling ad time.

Maybe you guys should next shut up about Hulu before you almost kill ANOTHER golden goose….