You always knew a device that let you fast-forward through commercials was too good to be true. The reason why shows like Gossip Girl have gotten so heavy-handed with their product placement ("Here Serena, try some of this delicious Vitamin Water while mulling over your relationship with Dan!") is because the coveted teen demographic are using DVRs to prerecord their programs and skip the commercials. Which is totally their right! But also, it's hurting The CW's Nielsen numbers. Except! New "delayed viewing" ratings are out, and it shows more people are watching The CW than previously thought. But! Those viewers are probably skipping ahead 30 seconds at a time. And!:

Alan Wurtzel, the president for research at NBC, said in a telephone interview that the results from premiere week “prove we need a better way to evaluate our performance.” He said DVR penetration is now about 33 percent among 18- to 49-year-olds and viewing shows on recorded playback will only continue to increase.

He called the DVR the “ultimate frenemy” (friend and enemy) because it increases overall viewing and demonstrates that viewers are engaged enough with shows to plan ahead and record them, but “the enemy part is that there is still a lot of commercial avoidance.”

First of all: LOL at NYT for having to explain what a frenemy is. But also, scary! If viewers don't shape up and actually sit through commercial breaks like their parents did, then we'll be seeing more 90210 episodes with Maybelline forced into the dialogue. And let's not even get started on how the Nielsen can't figure out how to measure online viewings of shows yet. New system, new system!

(Also: Fun New York Times drinking game: Take a shot whenever the article mentions Grey's Anatomy.)