Oh, I'm not arguing they work, msbelle. As brenda m rightly points out, my wording should have delusion, hence why I think the UK govs optional move to allow online petitioning is a great idea (for them).

Delusion of power, more like. Is there anyone outside of tv petition organizers who actually buys into the "illusion"?

The 7 people that signed it last night?

I read somewhere or saw on the news that more DVR folks watch ads then expected and advertisers needed to worry more about ad placement (first or last have high watch rates). it was interesting & unexpected.

I've read the same. More watch tv in real time than is usually assumed too. But until most people have DVRs, we'll continue to hear the refrain that advertisers simply ignore the viewing habits of tivo users. Eventually, that will no longer be a viable marketing strategy.

Article about Tivo watchers and ads

It turns out that a lot of people with digital video recorders are not fast-forwarding and time-shifting as much as advertisers feared. According to new data released yesterday by the Nielsen Company, people who own digital video recorders, or DVRs, still watch, on average, two-thirds of the ads.

One big reason is that many people with DVRs still tune in to watch about half of their shows at the scheduled start time, meaning they must sit through commercials.

And even when people watch recorded shows later, many are not fast-forwarding through the ads. On average, Nielsen found, DVR owners watch 40 percent of commercials that they could skip over — perhaps because they like ads, don’t mind them or simply can’t be bothered.

I always watch the Mac ads when I see them. And I just bought a new Mac last week. And I have two Tivos, so I guess it's not all bad. My husband likes to watch all the commercials.

I'll sometimes let the Tivo play through the ads, but that doesn't mean I'm watching them, it just means I got up to get some water. Fortunately, Tivo can't tell the difference! Muahaha!

By the way Denise, I'd still dispute the idea that people worrying about Drive a few days after air are crazy. I'd say in this case they're smart. History shows that networks will dump a show as fast they possibly can if it's well below their expectations -- Drive is, as I'm sure many here are aware not an exception to that rule. That said the only power those people have is to casually say to their friends 'Have you seen Drive? It's great!'. Or start a human rights petition.

Personally, I find it a bit creepy that tivo is tracking *when* I watch a show, how often I repeat it, whether or not I ff commercials, etc. That's a LOT of data to mine.

I stop and rewind to see the new Mac ads. I stop and rewind to see new movie ads that look interesting. I sometimes stop to watch Target ads simply because they are visually appealing.

I think most advertisers wouldn't have to worry about DVRs if they simply would make interesting and entertaining advertising.

I would like to think that a petition helped a little bit in getting the Wonderfalls DVDs. Am I wrong?

Have fan campaigns ever had a serious influence on TV executive decisions apart from the original Star Trek and helping get The Peacekeeper Wars made?

I'm willing to lend a little more credence to influencing TV producers' casting and storyline decisions. I'm fairly certain the re-hiring of Michael Shanks, for example, was decided upon when producers realized how much of an already slender niche audience was up in arms.