No DVR Death Star
By | September 24, 2009
Further proof that DVRs aren’t the television killer that was once feared comes from a new analysis from Magna Global. The agency believes that the technology actually contributes to viewer attachment to TV and in turn allows the medium to remain a primary marketing vehicle for the foreseeable future.
By 2011, DVRs will be in approximately 35% of TV homes, Magna predicts. With less than 10% total-day DVR consumption, less than 4% of total universe TV consumption will occur on DVRs. But over the same 10 years, TV consumed per person and the US population will have increased by more than 10% each, the firm says in its new On Demand Quarterly research report.
Other nuggets from the report: DVR usage will not increase as rapidly as penetration rises. That’s because not everyone uses DVRs to their full potential. Magna says past research has found that about 30% of DVR users account for some 70% of aggregated DVR consumption.
By the end of ’14, Magna forecasts DVR households to total 51mln (42% of TV homes), up from 32mln (28%) at the end of 2Q09. By 2014, it believed true VOD will reach 66mln homes (55% of TV households). That compares to 43.1mln VOD households (39%) at the end of 2Q09. Broadband access will continue to rise, with Magna predicting 85mln homes will have the service in ’14.
Magna estimates that DirecTV now has 7mln DVRs and DISH Network has 6.9mln. It puts Comcast DVR subs at about 4.9mln (nearly 21% of its sub base), Time Warner Cable at 4.2mln (almost 33% of sub base) and Mediacom 162K (12% of sub base).
