• by David Kaplan , September 8, 2004

As if the tentative alliance announced this week between TiVo and DVD renter Netflix won't lead to more Americans staying home to watch TV, a new report by Forrester Research says viewers already spend more than half their time with their DVRs.

According to a new report, consumers who own digital video recorders (DVRs), like TiVo, spend nearly 60 percent of their total TV watching time viewing recorded or delayed programs, in which they skip 92 percent of ads.

Though DVR users currently constitute a fairly small population, 5 percent of households, this group will grow to 41 percent within five years, Forrester predicts. For its study, the Cambridge, Mass.-based research group surveyed 588 DVR users. The survey results have been published in the two-part report series, "Inside the Mind of the DVR User."

"Consumers told us that they love the control DVRs give them," said Josh Bernoff, a vice president for research at Forrester. "The ability to record programs easily, pause live TV, and skip ads creates a powerful change in the way they view television. As these devices shift the way that mainstream consumers experience programming and advertising, they create both opportunities and challenges for the TV industry."

So far, DVR owners rated their improved enjoyment of TV at an average 4.4 on a five-point scale. Nearly one in five respondents used the word "love" in response to an open-ended question about how they feel about their DVRs.

And the love affair seems likely to last. DVR owners are hooked on the device - less than 2 percent of people who owned DVRs have stopped using them, the Forrester study said.

Real-time viewing drops by 60 percent for consumers who use DVRs, though programs like the evening news and sporting events are among the shows that retain significant real-time viewing.

As for ads, Forrester's survey respondents report watching only 8 percent of commercials in recorded programming. And while three out of 10 viewers say they watch no commercials at all, three out of four DVR users watch some ads at least occasionally. Respondents cited movie ads and promos for upcoming programming as faring best. Conversely, consumers watch less than one in 10 ads about credit cards, long- distance carriers, car dealers, and banks.