Hi.

But that's not the point I am making -- the net result of this "piracy" is that more people are exposed to the program. This means the network can claim that more people watched the show, and set their advertising rates accordingly.

I don't know the exact system in the US, but if it is by any means similar to the one used in Germany, that statement is untrue. Sure, more people will see their program, and probably also more people will actually see the commercials (heck, there are times when I actually enjoy watching those), but due to the system used to count the people exposed to the program, they probably can't set their ad rates any higher.
In Germany, there is a certain institution (can't recall their name though) that "counts" how many people watch which station/program. To achieve this, they don't actually count _every_ _single_ person that watches TV, but have a (large) group of people who keep a record on when they watch TV and which program. More accurately: They use an additional remote to tell a blackbox which one in the household is actually watching TV and which program, and that blackbox transfers that info back to the institute via a seperate phone line. Those families are also instructed to "check out" from watching TV for fridge/bathroom/etc. breaks and to check back in afterwards. Now the problem with this procedure is that the blackbox has no way of knowing which programs you might have taped or plan to tape (well, more modern boxes are able to be told about future recording events), but most certainly have absolutely _no_ way of knowing how many people are watching a taped show in the future. Don't forget that those quotes are often published within the same hour or the next day at the latest.

cu,
sven