Survey finds DVR usage eating into DVD viewing, not TV

by Darren Murph, posted Oct 31st 2008 at 7:01AM

Content owners have long since looked down upon the almighty DVR, but a recent survey suggests that they actually have little to worry over. In fact, over 90% of individuals surveyed by Knowledge Networks admitted that they "typically watch TV during the prime-time hours of 8:00PM to midnight," which is a rate similar to that of four years ago. According to the company's David Tice, "increased DVR usage seems to come at the expense of watching purchased video," hinting that the decrease in home video sales could be linked to the ability to watch one's favorite shows at any time of the day. 'Course, this evidence here does clash somewhat with other numbers, but we aren't shocked at all to hear that people would rather watch something instantly on their DVR instead of going to the video store.

Filed under: Industry, DVRs, Other formats, Set-top boxes, Advertising

Tags: ad skipping, AdSkipping, commercials, data, dvd, DVR, marketing, research, survey

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Highly Ranked

squiggleslash @ Oct 31st 2008 9:00AM

This is similar to what I've been saying for a while and it's also a major factor into why Blu-ray is going to have serious problems going mainstream.

TFA's view is that people spend more time watching shows they've DVR'd and therefore have less time to watch movies they've rented. But there's also the factor I've mentioned a few times that an HD DVR and a subscription to something like Cinemax is an absolutely awesome way to watch recent releases. And with TiVo and recent Dish DVRs allowing you to add additional storage, you can end up with quite a good movie collection.

There have been a lot of comments here along the lines of "Blu-ray's about to take off! The economy's down the toilet so people will spend money on Blu-ray instead of vacations." I think realistically people may upgrade their TVs, but they'll skip BD as they're going to be overwhelmed with content options.

Who can complain about that?

Neutral

Valicore @ Oct 31st 2008 10:55AM

I think that Blu-Ray has it's place, but as more of a stepping stone to other technologies. VHS was revolutionary, the DVD was revolutionary, both because they were so much better than what there was before. VHS/Betamax was revolutionary because it gave so much control (compared to before at least) to the consumer. DVD was revolutionary because there was such an improvement in ease of use (not having to rewind, not having to fast forward through the whole movie to get to a scene near the end), in picture quality, and because it offered interactivity in a way people hadn't experienced before.

Blu-Ray is a bit of a harder sell. As stupid as it sounds, I think that one of the big reasons people don't see the need or benefit in upgrading is that the actual physical media doesn't look very different.Most of the people on Engadget know it's actually quite different technically, but it doesn't grab the average person like the difference between a clunky cassette tape and a shiny round disk.

I know a lot of people like having that physical media on the shelf because we're used to it, but my generation (early twenties) and to a much greater extent the generation after don't see the point in taking up the room to store it. That, coupled with things like the Popcorn Hour and the Xbox 360/Netflix deal are really gonna be the next "wow factor" thing in my opinion. I wouldn't have thought this at all even 2 years ago, but with the rate that broadband speeds are increasing and streaming content technologies are evolving, I think it'll be a surprise..

Highly Ranked

Larry @ Oct 31st 2008 9:10AM

I agree with Squiggleslash that the DVR is truly the king of high def media. I spend $30.00 a month on three of premium movie channels. With a DVR I can record and watch more movies than I could ever reasonably afford on Blu-Ray.

Neutral

daaper @ Oct 31st 2008 10:13AM

I agree that it's nice to have movies right in my STB to watch, but I found that most of the movie channels get into loops where they show the same movies over and over renewing once a month. That's why i switched back to netflix, I have much more say in the movies I want to watch. I don't find it affects my renting/buying, but it does affect me wanting to purchase the premium channels on satellite.

Highly Ranked

bull3964 @ Oct 31st 2008 10:01AM

I find that tracks my habits. I make an effort to watch the shows that I like when they air (maybe on a little bit of a delay, depending on when I get a chance to start them), but recording and watching of other material as pretty much eaten up all the time I would have used before to watch DVDs. As a result I've been purchasing fewer and fewer.

Neutral

Valicore @ Oct 31st 2008 11:04AM

That's quite true... I think a lot of people like myself used watching DVDs as a way to fill up time between the shows that they actually wanted to watch. Now that I can watch my favorite shows when I want, and one after the other, I don't find myself using DVDs nearly as much.

The other thing is On Demand content. I really didn't see anything beyond the initial "that's kinda cool" factor, until I got AT&T U-Verse. I subscribe to a lot of the premium channels and with that comes access to On Demand content from those channels.It's really kinda made my DVDs obsolete.

Neutral

Miggity @ Oct 31st 2008 11:37AM

90% of the television I watch is shows I have recorded to my DVR. I just can't watch live TV anymore. Being able to fast forward through commercials is too clutch. Commercials are LOUD and annoying.

Whether its The Office or Mythbusters or anything else I watch, I always record it and then start watching it 10-20 after it starts just so I can 30 sec skip through commercials. I probably watch MORE television now with the DVR.

What I DON'T do anymore is sit there and channel surf aimlessly like I used to back in the day.

Channel surfing is dead.

I still have my Netflix subscription but I definitely do not watch as many DVDs as I would if I did not have DVR.

I LOVE MY DVR. It's the only way to fly!

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