• by Paul Gough , April 14, 2003

There's a shift in the way people are watching television, and a new report cautions that media planners should be aware of it. But surprisingly, the potential threat doesn't come from personal video recorders like TiVo and ReplayTV.

A new report by Knowledge Network/SRI finds only 1% of America's television households have PVRs. But another technological innovation - the interactive program guide - is present in 27% of American TV households and in going into more places faster than PVRs. It's being driven by the rapid adoption rate of digital cable and satellite services.

"This is impacting the way people watch television," said David Tice, VP/client service at KN/SRI and director of the report, The Home Technology Monitor. Tice said that long-establishing television viewing habits are giving way to new ones in the Internet age. Among those new habits the report tracked include simultaneous use of the television and the Internet-powered home computer as well as using IPGs.

This behavior has altered viewing habits, cutting in half the number of viewers who say they channel surf. Nearly 80% of those surveyed say they use the IPG every day and 52% say they head straight to the IPG to find out what's on instead of clicking channels looking for something to catch their eye. While it's clear that PVRs reduce channel surfing - and enable commercial skipping - the KN/SRI report shows that the program guides are doing the same thing. Tice said Monday afternoon that it didn't mean that the commercials were being skipped, however.

At the same time, the report finds that the printed television guides suffer compared to the IPGs. Ninety-five percent of all TV homes use the interactive program guides to decide what they're going to watch in real time and 87% use it to plan what they'll watch in the future. Tice said that the ease of operation leads to a pleasant experience from the beginning and gives the viewer more control.

"Once people start using it, they really like it," Tice said. He also said that advertising on IPGs show a 28% recall rate for ads or promotions.

The findings don't yet show a receptiveness toward more interactive television; Tice said that viewers generally see television as relaxation more than an interactive experience beyond the IPG.