TiVo - The NY Times raises an interesting question about the relative value of time-shifted commercials. If you watch a show at a time later than it was originally aired, should your viewership be given any less value than the audience watching in real time? Clearly, the answer, as it stands today is yes. My understanding is that Nielsen ratings do not take recording into account, whether on a VCR or a DVR. Advertisers also pay less for their commercials to air on "repurposed" broadcasts of shows (not repeats, but when TNT airs same-week repeat of Charmed or FX does the same for 24).

The advent of new technology always brings these questions to the forefront, but for decades people have been using commercial breaks as opportunities to go to the bathroom or raid the fridge. Should the manner in which the commercials are ignored matter?