Most cable operators also make money from local ad revenue, and would stand to gain revenue by making it harder for their customers to skip ads.

As people began to skip ads while watching their favorite TV shows, technology was empowering the consumer to watch their content without interruption.

Those who skipped ads were 17 percent more likely to research computer hardware or software online, and they posted comments on Web sites 25 percent more often.

At the time the suit was brought, skipping ads during playback on a clunky tape machine was hardly worth the considerable trouble.

It does not skip ads on any live programs.

More ominously for the traditional commercial, 69 percent said that they were interested in products and services that would help them skip or block ads.

Those researchers had argued that that tendency counterbalanced the possibility that DVR users would skip past ads.

Skipping ads and thumbing your nose at the scheduling structure imposed by corporate broadcasters feels, if not exactly revolutionary, at least titillating.

Skipping ads makes it more expensive than the ad-supported Touch, which starts at $99 but goes up to $139 for the ad-free version.

Some studies put the percentage of people who skip past ads at above 90 percent.