Are DVR Ad-Zappers Signaling Trouble For 'Three Musketeers'?

TiVo’s been looking for patterns among DVR viewers who speed through certain ads — and Alex Petrilli Jr, Senior Manager of Audience Research, says that when it comes to box office sales, “the fast forward rate seems to tell a story.” In the more than 40% of all households with a DVR, viewers tend to zap ads for films they don’t plan to go out to see. That could indicate trouble ahead for Summit Entertainment’s The Three Musketeers, which opens October 21. About 20% of DVR users sped through ads for Musketeers during the week that ended September 25, TiVo says. That made the action film the week’s second-most-zapped campaign after FilmDistrict’s Drive, where 24.6% fast-forwarded through the ads. But the data should encourage executives behind DreamWorks Animation’s Puss In Boots, which opens October 28: Only 11.7% sped through its ads, making it the second-least-zapped campaign among the 15 most advertised films — behind Sony’s Courageous, which a mere 9.9% decided to ignore. Just 13.7% used the remote to avoid the ads for Paramount’s Footloose, which opens October 14, making it the week’s third-least-avoided campaign. As a result, Puss and Footloose are “trending to open pretty well” Petrilli says. The data comes from TiVo’s StopWatch ratings service, which is an anonymous daily sample of 375,000 TiVo subscribers.