UK PVR Uptake On the Rise
Personal video recorder (PVR) penetration is continuing to gather pace in the UK’s digital TV market, with new research revealing that almost one in ten people in digital homes own a PVR.
Ownership of PVRs is reported to be changing audiences’ relationship with TV, and TV advertising, with the DART study showing that, of the 2.6 million people who own PVRs, 9 out of 10, and 97% of the 16-34 age group, fast-forward through adverts either “always” or “almost always”, an increase of six percentage points in the last six months.
In addition to this, the report found 45% of PVR users claiming to watch more recorded television than live broadcasts, up from 33% six months ago.
In contrast to the DART report, research published last month from ESPN, found that in the US because the majority of PVR households are relatively new to the technology, the devices are not yet affecting their television viewing behaviour (see PVRs Not Yet Affecting TV Viewing Behaviour).
Speaking during a recent presentation at the Carat Digital Exchange in New York, Artie Bulgrin, senior vice president for research and sales development at ESPN, claimed that research suggests PVRs are leading to more family viewing, with household members gathering around the television set connected to the PVR.
He said that 68% of viewing in PVR households is now done with the television connected to the device, with 60% of all viewing in PVR households done ‘live’ and the majority of PVR owners still considering live television to be the norm.
The technology is quickly rising in popularity, however, with research firm In-Stat showing PVR unit shipments to have jumped to over 11.4 million in 2004, up from 4.6 million in 2003, signalling an increase in consumer awareness of time-shifted television (see Consumers Demand For PVRs More Than Doubles In A Year).
This uptake is causing concerns for advertisers, with research firm Accenture predicting that nearly 10% of all television commercials in the US will be skipped by 2009, resulting in advertisers losing $6 billion worth of commercial impacts (see US Advertisers To Lose 10% Of Commercial Impacts By 2009).
PVRs are set to enjoy massive growth over the next five years, with penetration expected to reach over 11% of television households world-wide, according to a report from Informa Media (see PVRs Penetration To Reach 30% By 2010).
PVR penetration in the UK is forecast to reach five million in the next four years, with penetration 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.