Digital video recorders are now found in more than 27% of U.S. households but their presence isn’t having a significant impact on television viewing habits, according to a report by consumer research Leichtman Research Group Inc.
And more than 30% of U.S. homes have at least two DVRs and 87% of DVR owners said they would recommend the device to a friend. On a scale of 1-10, 81% of owners rate their DVR 8-10 with 45% assigning it a perfect 10.
“The number of US households with DVRs has essentially doubled in the past two years, and—with a continued push from cable, DBS, and Telco TV providers—will likely double again over the next four years,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group. “DVRs, along with on-demand, continue to change the way that many people watch TV. LRG forecasts that DVR and on-demand’s share of total TV viewing time in the U.S. will increase from about 6% today to 16% at the end of 2012.”
Other finding based on a survey of 1,300 households:
-- 35% of DVR owners feel that they spend more time watching programs recorded on their DVR than regularly scheduled programs.
-- 45% of DVR owners record five or fewer programs per week.
-- 68% of digital cable subscribers say that they have used video on demand—with 85% of this group having used VOD in the past month.
-- 42% of VOD users are more likely to keep digital cable because of on-demand.
