• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, August 29, 2004

Proving that compelling, live programming can alter the TV viewing behavior of digital video recorder users, NBC's broadcast of the Athens Olympic Games boosted so-called "live viewing" among TiVo subscribers 20 percent over the amount of live viewing they were doing prior to the Olympics. The statistics, which are based on anonymous, aggregated data from TiVo's sample base, were released Sunday afternoon by the DVR marketer.

That NBC's coverage of the Olympics encouraged TiVo users to view the Games live, as opposed to in playback mode, is a bit ironic, given the fact that much of the coverage was tape delayed anyway.

While TiVo users increased their live viewing during the Games, they also increased the amount of so-called "trick play" functions - instant replays, rewinds, pause, slow motion and fast-forwarding - while watching the Olympics. Not surprisingly, given the nature of fast-paced Olympics competition, slow-motion was the dominant trick feature, rising 25 percent in TiVo households over the amount of slow-motion viewing they normally do.

On the other end of the spectrum, fast-forwarding was the second biggest increase among trick viewing features, possibly so that viewers could catch back up with real-time coverage, after pausing ore rewinding the action.

U.S. gymnast Paul Hamm's gold medal performance on the high bar on Aug. 18 was the most viewed Olympic moment in TiVo households, followed by the review of Japanese swimmer Kosuke Kitajima's "questionable" dolphin kick in the 100 meter breaststroke competition on Aug. 15. The third most viewed event was Chinese Olympian Fan Ye's accident while dismounting the uneven bars on Aug. 17.

TiVo Trick Play Functionality During The Olympic Games

Slow Motion             +25.0% 
Fast Forward            +22.7% 
Instant Replay          +17.1% 
Rewind                  +10.9% 
Pause                    +7.2% 

Source: TiVo.