Digital Video Recorders are only part of the commercial avoidance problem: the majority of viewers are skipping ads whether the programming is recorded or live, and women are the biggest culprits.

A study from MPG (Media Planning Group) in the U.S. discovered that nine out of 10 viewers in DVR households zap through commercials and are pretty indifferent to commercials in general.

It found that 45% of DVR owners feel commercials can potentially be entertaining but 57% find them annoying. Not surprisingly, nine out of 10 respondents say they always or usually skip commercials when watching DVR-recorded programs. Of those zappers, 59% of males say they always skip, compared to 69% of females.

Only 16% of respondents say they watch commercials when viewing live programming while more than half (49% of males, 58% of females) get up to do something else and nearly 40% change channels (33% of males, 44% of females).

Although only 5% of respondents said skipping commercials was the reason they had DVR, that feature ranks second in importance to having more control over television viewing.

About the commercials themselves, a majority of respondents were less likely to skip humorous commercials but were turned off by commercials with celebrities or that were considered heartwarming.

The good news for advertisers paying big bucks for the Super Bowl – reportedly up to $2.5 million U.S. for 30-seconds – that annual event is one where viewers are least likely to skip commercials.

The conclusions out of MPG are that it is increasingly urgent for marketers to find new and creative communications channels with which to reach consumers.

MPG compiled the report from data collected with Nielsen Media Research that also included several questions proprietary to the media agency. The study looked at DVR usage and was conducted from June 29 to August 8 and involved 310 people aged 12-plus in DVR households.

MPG is the international media agency of France-based Havas, a network that includes MPG/Maxxmedia in Toronto.