>In what may seem a media business version of the Stockholm syndrome, television network executives have fallen in love with a former tormentor: the digital video recorder.
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>The reason is not simply that more households own DVRs — 33 percent compared with 28 percent at this point in 2008 — helping some marginal shows become hits. It is also that more people seem content to sit through the commercials than networks once thought.
>...
>Against almost every expectation, nearly half of all people watching delayed shows are still slouching on their couches watching messages about movies, cars and beer. According to Nielsen, 46 percent of viewers 18 to 49 years old for all four networks taken together are watching the commercials during playback, up slightly from last year.
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>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/02/business/media/02ratings.html?_r=1
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>Wow...just wow.

I think you're underestimating the infinite laziness of TV viewers. Skipping ads actually requires a small amount of mental, and a tiny amount of physical, effort.

One thing advertisers have to like about DVRs is that ads are stored, not just streamed. There's a chance their ads may be viewed again, without costing the advertiser any more money.