• by Wayne Friedman , March 10, 2011

Traditional TV DVR time-shifting continues to be an older-skewing activity.

In the fourth quarter of 2010, almost 30 hours a month were time-shifted by those 25-64 years old -- according to a recent "State of Media" report by Nielsen.

For those 25-34 years old who have DVRs in their homes, time shifts encompassed 22% of all their TV viewing; for 35-49 viewers, 19% of the time; and for 50-64 viewers, 16% of the time.

By way of comparison, those 18-24 viewers use DVRs around 19 hours a month -- around 15% -- while those 12-17 viewers time-shifted 18 hours, for 16% of all TV viewing.

Overall, time-shifting usage rose 17.9% in the third quarter of 2010 and 13.4% in the fourth quarter of 2010. Looking at overall TV usage, there were some 289.2 million average TV viewers, about a 1.0% rise over the same period a year ago. Time-shifted viewers amount to 105.9 million, a 16.7% gain.

Nielsen says as a result of DVR usage, the average U.S. TV viewer watched 154 hours per month of television -- an 18-minute gain over the same period a year ago. (This includes homes regardless of whether they have DVR machines.)

In the third quarter of 2010, which includes the slower live TV usage, the average U.S. TV viewer watched 145 hours -- a 90-minute gain over the same period a year ago -- also pushed by higher time-shifted usage.