PVRs To Reach 32 Million By 2010

The media company is uncertain whether the uptake of these devices will remain enthusiast-orientated, of if they will obtain mass appeal. However, the increasing penetration of PVRs is a significant reason for marketers and agencies to find a way of taking advantage of the technology.

Commenting on the research findings, Brian Wieser, vice president and director of industry analysis at Magna said: “That 32 million by the end of the decade is a huge leap, considering we’re projecting 7.4 million PVR users by the end of the first quarter of 2005.”

Wieser added: “These estimates don’t even take into account the full range of consumer driven time and place shifting devices, such as those offered by PC based media centres. So the notion of the digital household and what the numbers truly will be is evolving.”

Plans for video on demand services are also revealed by the study to be somewhat hazy, with Wieser saying: “It depends a lot on what the government is calling for. If our expectations for the switch-off of analogue broadcasting occurs by the end of the decade, as the government is calling for, we believe the vast majority of the roughly 66 million cable subscribers will gain access to VOD-based content.”

Competition from internet based video is forecast to affect the dynamics of the overall television marketplace, especially as content is increasingly made available via peer-to-peer (P2P).

Magna Global predicts online households to total 83 million by 2010, with 80 million being broadband, compared to 64 million internet households and 39.3 million broadband connected households at the end of Q1 2005.

Wieser emphasised the need for advertisers to take P2P networks seriously, claiming that delivering video content beyond webcasting will happen.

He said: “P2P is happening, and it’s happening without advertising. It will grow, and it’s only a matter of advertisers supporting that content. Marketers need to think how they can take advantage of the technology. It’s a very simple extension to embed the ads into that content.”

At the end of last month, media group, OMD, announced plans to test a new format of media advertising that will deliver an advertising message, even when viewers are fast forwarding through commercials via PVRs (see Advertisers Fight Back Against PVRs).

OMD’s “fast-forward commercials” are an important step towards combating advertiser fears over PVR technology and with Magna’s predictions foreseeing an impressive growth in the medium, OMD’s device is a much needed new form of advertising.

Over the next five years PVRs are set to enjoy massive growth, with penetration expected to reach over 11% of television households worldwide, according to a report from Informa Media (see Popularity Of E-Shopping Continues To Grow).

PVR penetration in the UK is forecast to reach five million in the next four years, with usage set to reach 21% of the population by 2008, increasing to 34% by 2012, according to research from Starcom (see PVRs Causing Increasing Threat To Advertisers).

As a result of this dramatic uptake, Starcom estimates that, by 2008, advertisers will have lost 6% of commercial impacts – the opportunity for an individual to see a 30-second ad.