Although PVRs are viewed as ‘a threat’ to broadcasters and advert...

preliminary research” on how PVRs impacted advertising. The “good news,” he said, was that “we all seem to be in this together” and advertisers and broadcasters seemed to be on the same page. He said “if the PVR may put advertising in its traditional form in peril, the advertisers realize that they need to figure out a solution -- just as those that are selling the time on their networks need to figure out a solution.” Iger predicted that we're “going to see dramatic growth in PVRs,” noting he had seen “figures as high as roughly 25 billion installed PVRs in some form or another by the end of 2006.” That meant PVRs were “likely to change the way people access television” and were “going to require much greater cooperation and dialog with advertisers to figure out how [advertising] can be effectively embedded in TV,” he said. Disney believes merely boosting the number of product placements in TV shows won’t make up for the loss of traditional commercials and “most advertisers seem to agree,” Iger said. Disney CEO Michael Eisner said technology such as PVRs “enhances content and people figure out how to use that technology to enhance entertainment in some way.” PVRs, he said, weren’t just for skipping ads. The company noted that viewers like to watch certain ads and suggested that one way to encourage viewers to watch them was for advertisers to make them as entertaining as the typical Super Bowl commercial. Discussing obstacles that Disney’s ABC and other TV networks face competing with other entertainment now, Iger said “we've seen a dramatic increase in time spent” among those who play videogames.