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20% of U.S. Households Own DVRs

Research from The Leichtman Research Group found that about 20% of U.S. households own digital video recorders. That’s a big jump of 8 percentage points from last year when it was at 12% of households.

What’s driving this surge?

Popularity of HDTV. Would you really bother to buy a regular VCR after purchasing a $2,000 TV? No, you’d probably want a DVR. You’ve already invested in HD, ordered HD service from your TV provider so you’ll probably want an HD DVR. Liechtman found that 53% of DVR owners had an HD set but there were no numbers on how many were HD DVRs.

Availability of DVRs. Tivo and ReplayTV used to be the only DVRs that you could buy. But now cable and satellite providers offer their own DVRs. And at prices that are cheaper than buying a standalone Tivo and paying monthly Tivo subscriptions.

Higher Household Incomes. According to Leichtman Research Group, the mean household income for DVR owners is 33% above average. If you’ve got higher income, you can afford to pay for HD, and buy a DVR.

Skipping Past Commercials. Well, not quite. Although most DVR users say the ability to skip commercials is very important, only 8% say it’s the main benefit of owning a DVR.

Consumer Acceptance of DVRs. More people know and understand what a DVR is and how it can change how you view TV. However, only 45% of respondents said that they record five or fewer programs per week. Perhaps, I’m a TV junkie, but I record over 20 hours (Ok, maybe it’s closer to 30 hours) of programming every week. Of course, I can’t watch it all but I watch a lot of it. Plus, Tivo records suggestions for me all the time. It seems my Tivo is always recording something no matter what time it is.

Finally, Leichtman also predicted that the number of U.S. households with DVRs will grow to over 60 million by the end of 2011.

[Via TV Squad]
[tags] Liechtman Research Group, DVR, HD DVR, PVR, digital video recorder, personal video recorder[/tags]

Posted in HD DVR, Research, Tivo