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Americans are watching more TV than ever, and the increasing penetration of DVRs has likely contributed to increased viewership. But “Must See TV” doesn’t mean that people are gathering around their TV anymore during primetime on a Thursday night. Appointment viewing is now when the viewer wants to watch it thanks to DVRs. As of March 2009, 30.6 percent of households in Nielsen’s National People Meter Panel have a DVR, up significantly from just 12.3 percent in January 2007.
A key factor to this expansion is the integration of DVRs into cable and DBS set top boxes: 55 percent of DVR homes had it as part of their cable box and 40 percent had a DVR within their DBS box. Just 5 percent had a standalone DVR. And as households recognize the convenience DVR offers, a growing number are becoming multi-DVR households. 25 percent of homes had two, while 5 percent had three or more.
“DVRs are changing the way Americans watch TV. Despite the competition for viewers’ attention from the Internet, video games and other media, TV viewership continues to rise. As with other vehicles, convenience is key – allowing people to consume content when they want. DVRs are a relatively inexpensive and useful tool for viewers to do that,” said Pat McDonough, Senior Vice President, Planning Policy & Analysis at Nielsen.
So what are people recording and when are they finding the time to playback recorded programs? Most playback is occurring during primetime, early fringe and late fringe. Playback during the day was highest on Saturdays and Sundays as viewers used the weekend to catch up on their favorite programs and movies. Programs recorded between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. were played back within the same day more than those airing at 10 p.m., which could impact live viewership of programs airing at 10 p.m. and later.
Of Nielsen’s 56 Metered Markets, the top ten for DVR penetration are:
| Rank | Market | % Penetration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego | 37.7% | |
| 2 | Austin | 37.4% | |
| 3 | Dallas-Ft. Worth | 37.2% | |
| 4 | Orlando-Daytona Bch-Melbrn | 36.8% | |
| 5 | Los Angeles | 36.2% | |
| 6 | Sacramento-Stktn-Modesto | 35.2% | |
| 7 | San Francisco-Oak-San Jose | 34.1% | |
| 8 | San Antonio | 34.0% | |
| 9 | Raleigh-Durham | 34.0% | |
| 10 | Tampa-St. Pete | 33.5% | |
| Source: The Nielsen Company | |||
Download a full copy of Nielsen’s DVR report, including more detailed information about playback, impact on program loyalty, demographics and possible implications for networks here.
[...] via Nielsen Wire. [...]
I don’t happen to believe the hype. I recently attempted to purchase a Tivo dual tunner DVR, which was on clearance at Radio Shack but what I was not informed of and what I discovered is that you must pay a monthly service fee to use the equipment, which I personally feel is deceptive and unlawful.
If I’m paying for cable TV and I have paid for the DVR, which I now own much like a VCR, why on earth would I pay a monthly service fee to record “my” cable television, which I’m paying for? It’s bad enough that we must pay to watch television where this all originated on the premise that advertisers pay for television and in turn they get to advertise to millions of viewers. The alure of cable was the promise of “no commercials” except those which promoted the cable station itself, which was fair but now cable stations are not only charging the murchants to advertise but they are also charging viewers to be advertised to as many cable stations run ads just like free TV, which in and of itself can and should be construed as consumer fraud.
The idea of “offering” a service to enhance one’s ability to record TV is one thing but to “trick” or “force” the consumer to use a service that is neither necessary or essential, especially given that the equipment used to record the program is purchased and owned as opposed to being rented is simply unacceptable. When one purchases a VCR there is no “service fee” associated so why should that change because the signal is “digital” as opposed to “analog”?
Consumers are not sheep to be led to slaughter and given that consumers are counting every penny during these difficult times, its just a matter of time before Tivo and any other “fee” related to the act of recording television will be eliminated completely.
The Advocate
[...] ever before, but they do it in a different way. As of March 2009, 30.6 percent of households in Nielsen’s National People Meter Panel have a DVR, and the penetration of the DVR is expected to reach 40% by the end of 2010, which will [...]
[...] its appeal, DVR is growing fast. Neilsen reported earlier this year that 30.6 per cent of U.S. households have DVR, up from just over 12 per cent in [...]
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