The E-Commerce Times is running an article on the growth of DVR use in the US. According to Leichtman Research Group (LRG), just two years ago DVRs were in only 1 of 13 US homes, today 1 in 5 homes have a DVR, and by 2011 they predict that 50% of homes, or 60 million, will have a DVR. This is due largely to the proliferation from cable and satellite providers who are shifting DVRs from options to nearly standard equipment.
LRG also reported a couple of things that were a little surprising to me. They determined that 45% of DVR households record only five or fewer programs a week, and that 95% of TV viewing in the US is still live TV. I would’ve expected homes with DVRs to record more content, and even with DVRs in just 20% of homes I expected more time-shifting – 100% of my viewing is time-shifted with TiVo. And they look forward to potential future developments such as a network-based DVR.
