The sixth annual Communications Market Report has just been released by Ofcom, and reveals just how much the  appetite among consumers is growing for recording broadcast programmes for playback later. Nearly 9 million PVRs have been sold since 2000, helped in large part by the move to digital broadcasting. Here we set out key metrics on the take-up and use of PVR products and identify trends in consumer attitudes towards PVR use.

Key findings:

• More than a quarter of consumers (27%) claimed to use a PVR at the end of March 2009, equivalent to 7 million homes, according to Ofcom research. This rose to nearly a third of consumers (31%) in multichannel television homes.
• These figures are a little lower than those for operator and sales data, which suggest that nearly 9 million PVRs had been sold in the UK at the end of March 2009. The five million Sky+ boxes (launched in September 2001) made up the majority of the UK PVR universe at the end of Q1 2009, followed by Freeview+ and Freesat+ and Top Up TV devices, which together accounted for around 2.6 million devices.
• 15% of viewing across the five main PSB channels in 2008 was of programmes recorded using a PVR, according to data from BARB, the television industry’s audience measurement organisation. In Sky+ homes this rose to 19%.
• Adults aged 16-34 are the group most likely to watch programmes recorded on a PVR; 19% of viewing among this age group was on a recorded basis in 2008 according to BARB, compared to 11% for viewers aged 55 and over.
• High-definition programmes are among those most viewed after their initial broadcast in Sky+ homes, according to viewing data from the SkyView panel. A third of viewing of Drama serials and series in Sky+ homes is recorded.
• 42% of consumers said that they watched a greater variety of programmes since owning a PVR, although a third (33%) disagreed with this. Eighty per cent of consumers believe that they watch more programmes that they enjoy because they have a PVR.
• PVRs are becoming increasingly advanced, offering viewers search functionality and ‘push’ video-on-demand, where programmes are downloaded to the hard disk drive, for example. Hard drives are also increasing in size; some PVRs offer up to 250 hours of recording, up markedly from the 40 hours available on early generations of devices.
• The average retail price of PVRs for the Freeview market had fallen to £106 at the end of March 2009, down from £172 in March 2005, according to GfK sales data. Similarly, the costs of DVRs from the main pay-TV operators have fallen.
• Consumers are using a range of services to ‘catch up’ on television programmes including online catch-up TV and TV-based video-on-demand.

The report shows around a fifth (19 per cent) of viewing in Sky+ homes is timeshifted, more than for subscribers to Virgin Media’s V+ service who timeshifted 12 per cent of viewing; and some 9 per cent of viewing in Freeview PVR homes was time-shifted programmes. Ofcoms research also suggests that PVR owners enjoy a better TV experience, where 8 out of 10 TV viewers with a PVR say that they watched more programmes that they enjoy, and over 40 per cent said that they watched a greater variety of programmes since getting a PVR.

Source: Ofcom August 2009

.

Survey Highlights:

According to the NDS DVR Report, an international survey of over 1,000 DVR owners:

• Owners rank the DVR the second most essential household technology item they cannot live without, beaten only by the mobile phone
• Asked to rank the relative importance of a variety of household appliances, DVR owners ranked the DVR as the third most indispensable item after the washing machine and the microwave oven
• DVR owners with partners say that having a DVR makes for a happier home life
• 89% of Americans, 81% of British, 80% of Australians and 78% of Italians all reported that the DVR has improved how much they enjoy watching television

NDS is the world leader in DVR technology. Over 18 pay-TV operators located all over the world have chosen NDS solutions to bring the unique capabilities and flexibility of the DVR to their subscribers, and there are more than 13.1 million NDS-powered DVRs in households around the world today.

NDS wanted to know how DVRs are changing people’s lives. The statistics and trends detailed in the NDS DVR Report demonstrate the importance of the DVR’s role in the lives of consumers of all ages.

NDS XTV™ is a complete end-to-end solution with built-in VideoGuard® conditional access. It is the only DVR solution that has been designed from the ground up to fit the requirements of pay-TV operators worldwide to build and maintain subscriber satisfaction, increase ARPU and reduce churn. NDS’ unique and patented RASP (Random Access to Scrambled Content Protocol) technology enables encrypted channels to be recorded and stored on the disk and provides heightened security by ensuring that decryption and conditional access (CA) business controls take place at the time of viewing, rather than at the time of recording. XTV deployments offer simultaneous recording of different channels, secure and addressable delivery of over the air “remote recording” commands and environmental power management, including an auto-standby feature.

According to the survey, which asked respondents to rank relative importance of a list of household appliances, apart from the washing machine and the microwave oven, no other household item was deemed more essential than the DVR in today’s homes. Intriguingly, Italians surveyed also ranked the hairdryer higher than a DVR. And when it comes to essential technology gadgets, the DVR is second only to the mobile phone as the item they can’t live without. Intriguingly, the vast majority of respondents would rather give up their landline phone, dishwasher, radio and MP3 player than their DVR.

The survey also reveals that over 60% of DVR owners with a partner felt that having a DVR had improved their relationship. In the US, UK and Australia, respondents attributed this improvement to having the ability to watch their own programmes while sharing their favourites with each other. Surveyed Italians feel that their improved relationship happiness is due to the DVR allowing them to plan their evening’s viewing better.

More than three quarters of DVR owners with families in the US, Italy and Australia also feel that having a DVR has improved their family relationships, eliminating arguments over TV and allowing for the whole family to join the dinner table. In Britain, the figure was around two-thirds.

Other report highlights

The statistics and trends detailed in the NDS DVR Report demonstrate how important a role DVRs now play in the lives of consumers.

Other key findings from the survey include:

• DVR owners watch on average slightly more than four hours (4.075) of recorded and live television a day
• 89% of Americans, 81% of British, 80% of Australians and 78% of Italians all reported that the DVR has improved how much they enjoy watching television
• Nearly 61% think that a DVR is much easier to operate than a video cassette recorder
• Almost 58% find that they are watching more interesting TV programmes since getting a DVR
• More than three out of four agree that since getting a DVR they are more likely to find something to watch, when they want to watch TV
• Many respondents with only one DVR are keen to get a second one: 30% of Brits, 52% of Americans, 49% of Australians and 57% of Italians

Commenting on the survey, Nigel Smith, Chief Marketing Officer of NDS, said: “We commissioned this consumer survey to celebrate the milestone announcement that NDS technology now resides in over 13 million DVRs worldwide, making us the global leader in this market. The survey results show just how fast the DVR has become an indispensable part of people’s lives in the UK, US, Italy and Australia. It’s one of those technologies that, once tried, has you wondering how you coped before.”

Smith added: “At NDS we invest heavily in R&D to ensure that our technology is always ahead of the pack. Our next-generation DVR technologies, currently in development, will enhance the end user viewing experience still further, while also providing incremental revenue streams for our customers.”

Research methodology

The survey was carried out by Consumer Analysis Group in July 2008. The survey involved 1,012 people aged 18-70 years old who have a DVR at home. Consumers in the UK (256), US (252), Italy (251) and Australia (253), were questioned using a mix of phone, street and online interviews.

For a copy of the complete NDS DVR Survey please click here