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DVRs and Online TV: Is It Changing the Way People Watch TV?
By Peter Koeppel |
Today, one in five households in the U.S. owns a DVR, up from one in thirteen
households two years ago, reports a new study from Leichtman Research Group released October 12, 2007.
Additionally, NBC Universal's Digital Insights and Innovations Team (NBCU) reports that in May 2007, ten million
unique visitors went to NBC.com and watched an NBC television program online, resulting in thirty-five million
individual streams of NBC TV show segments.
With findings like these, you would think that traditional TV viewing is spiraling downhill and destined for the
same fate as eight-track tapes and VCRs. Not so, says the Nielsen Company. In fact, television tuning during the
2006-2007 television year remained at record levels set the previous year.
According to figures released by Nielsen on October 17, 2007, the total average time a household had a television
set tuned during 2006-2007 television year was eight hours and fourteen minutes per day, the same amount of time
as the previous year. And the average amount of television watched by individual users per day during the
2006-2007 television year was four hours and thirty-four minutes, a decline by a mere minute from the 2005-2006
season.
The results of these findings are somewhat surprising. With the rapid penetration of DVRs and the availability
of online TV shows, I would have expected to see greater erosion in live TV viewing. But as the Leichtman study
points out, ninety-five percent of all TV viewing in the U.S. is still of live TV.
However, the growth in online viewing of TV and of DVR usage is significant, and it points out the value of
offering the consumer a choice in how they view programming. So even though people are watching more TV than
ever before, consumers have more control over how and when they view programs. Therefore, smart networks and
advertisers will give viewers multiple choices for watching their favorite programs and for trying new
ones.
Is the DVR the Demise of TV Advertising?
The Leichtman study predicts that the number of U.S. households with DVRs will grow to over sixty million by the
end of 2011. Does that mean that advertisers will have a harder time reaching people who can fast-forward through
the commercials? Not necessarily.
The study also points out that while eighty-four percent of DVR owners rate the ability to skip commercials as
very important, only eight percent of DVR owners say it is the greatest benefit of having a DVR. Additionally,
forty-five percent of DVR owners record five or fewer programs per week, again pointing to the preference for
live TV.
Online Viewing Shifts TV Viewing
Of the people who went to NBC.com to watch an episode of their favorite show online, forty-eight percent of
users viewed a stream of at least one segment of "Heroes," the site's top show. Interestingly, NBCU's research
showed that thirty-five percent of the users went online to sample "Heroes" for the first time, and that
ninety-six percent of them continued watching the series, both online and over traditional TV. So in this case,
online viewing of shows is actually prompting more live TV viewing. NBCU is utilizing this data to pitch
clients on a "360 degree" package that allows advertisers to reach and further engage viewers both through
conventional TV and online.
One other interesting pattern revealed by the NBCU team was a slight increase in online viewing of NBC Rewind
shows during lunchtime on workdays, suggesting that online might be producing a new form of primetime. However,
the study also shows that the heaviest usage of the site continues to be at nighttime, during conventional TV
primetime hours.
The End of an Era, or the Dawn of a New Day?
So are DVRs and online shows changing the way people watch regular TV? Yes, but not in the way most would
think. As all the research reveals, even though there are numerous screens and devices competing for people's
time and attention, the majority of viewers still tune into traditional television. Some discover a new show
online and become regular viewers of the program live, while others use the new technology at a frequency rate
that barely impacts TV viewing habits. The key, then, is to give consumers choices. Consumers already have the
power; let them use it wisely.
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