AfterDawn: News

DVR popularity continues to grow

According to a report from The Carmel Group, by the year 2010 more than 50% of cable television subscribers will have DVRs.

The report projects that within the next three years, the number of cable-subscribing homes in the US with DVRs will grow to 32 million. Currently the number is less than 18 million, which is close to 30% of all subscribers.



It also said that in 2001 nine out of ten top cable providers weren't interested in providing the set top recorders, but consumer demand has changed their minds, and industry adoption of the technology has been rapid.

The secret has been recognizing the upswing in demand among consumers. Carmel Group chairman Jimmy Schaeffler compares user demand to that of black-and-white TV viewers who switch to color: "People who get used to watching TVs with a DVR don't want to return to watching TV without a DVR."

Source: Ars Technica


Written by: Rich Fiscus @ 23 Jul 2007 8:22

• Previous article

• The Daily Reel caters to video creators

• Next article

• Cuban predicts YouTube's demise

• 12 comments

• deew123

  I have a DVR and it ROCKS!!!

  23.7.2007 08:34 #1

• ugc

  yeah, I could not live without mine. It is a MUST HAVE!

  23.7.2007 10:26 #2

• SProdigy

  Originally posted by ugc: yeah, I could not live without mine. It is a MUST HAVE!INDEED

  23.7.2007 11:22 #3

• limelight

  Im too cheap to pay $6 /month for it, but it is cool!

  23.7.2007 13:21 #4

• jimmy42

  oh how i want a HD DVR :(

  23.7.2007 14:39 #5

• bobiroc

  Well Duh! It is only the greatest TV Related invention since the televison itself. I rarely watch live TV anymore. I find myself waiting (and doing other things) for about 15 - 20 mins into a show so I can skip the stupid commercials.

  23.7.2007 15:05 #6

• navi1199

  of course dvr is great too many idiots don't know how to program a vcr, but here all you do is push a button and BOOM you have it, not only that but you also have better quality video XD, I own a dvr too its great!

  23.7.2007 19:19 #7

• borhan9

  Well im not one of these numbers maybe that is because i am in Australia. Also the fact that i do not have cable TV can be also another factor. :)

  23.7.2007 20:55 #8

• akaangus

  Where I live the only way to get a DVR is to get HD, which would not be a big deal if it wasn't an extra $21 a month to get the same channels I already have in 480i awesomeness.
  
  I do subscribe to digital but lately I've just been downloading entire series (including 18 seasons of Simpsons) so I can pick what I want to watch and when, and the full versions not the cut down syndicated ones, commercial free, and for free.
  
  DVR is merely a stopgap solution between cable and a totally-streaming solution, just as MP3 CD players were between CDs and flash/hard drive based MP3 players. They will sell/rent well for awhile, but not too long because the tech to replace it is already here (Joost, On Demand, BitTorrent, DailyMotion, etc. etc. etc.)

  23.7.2007 22:24 #9

• hughjars

  The live pause & timeslip functions are very very nice - my Mrs is usually left completely cold by most techy stuff but she thinks our Sky+ (and now Sky HD) PVR/DVR is the best techy bit of kit we have ever gotten.

  24.7.2007 08:54 #10

• M4DHATT3R

  I'm surprised that the article only predicted only 50% of cable subscribers will have a DVR by 2010 because I would of guess that's how many people would have them now. I definetly couldn't live without mine, it's a life saver for people like me who work shift work.

  24.7.2007 17:09 #11

• Unfocused

  I can honestly say that having a DVR has changed the way that I watch television. It would be difficult for me to go back to regular old cable.

  23.8.2007 16:54 #12