Commentary
Only Four Percent of TV Viewing Recorded
- by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, November 1, 2006
According to new consumer research from Leichtman Research Group, VOD is now in 25 million digital cable homes, and 60 percent of digital cable subscribers have used VOD, up from 25 percent two years ago. The research firm says, however, that the overall impact of DVRs and VOD on US television viewing remains small. LRG estimates that less than 4% of all TV viewing in the US today is of recorded DVR programs or on-Demand viewing - up from about 2% a year ago.
The study found that the number of Digital Video Recorder (DVR) and Video-on-Demand (VOD) users have significantly increased in recent years. Sixty percent of all digital cable subscribers have used VOD - up from 25% two years ago, and about 12% of households in the United States now have a DVR - up from 3% just two years ago.
Other key findings include:
- The mean reported number of programs recorded each week in DVR households increased by 23% in the past year, to 11.3 programs recorded per week
- Among cable VOD users, the reported mean number of total on- Demand programs and movies ordered per week increased by 33% in the past year, to 4.8 per week
- Premium-on-Demand programs and movies account for half of all reported on-Demand usage
- 62% of DVR subscribers, and 64% of VOD users, say that they usually watch recorded or on-Demand programs when there is no regularly scheduled TV on that they want to watch
Top Cable MSOs in the U.S. | ||||||
Passings | Subscribers | Availability | Penetration | Net Adds in 2Q 2006 | Net Adds in 2Q 2005 | |
Basic Cable | 111,975,000 | 58,800,000 | 52.5% | (118,000) | (220,000) | |
Digital Cable | 111,600,000 | 28,950,000 | 99.7% | 25.9% | 800,000 | 660,000 |
Broadband | ||||||
Internet | 109,600,000 | 26,675,000 | 98% | 24.3% | 910,000 | 875,000 |
Telephone | 65,100,000 | 6,550,500 | 62% | 10.1% | 740,000 | 465,000 |
Sources: The Companies and Leichtman Research Group, Inc. | ||||||
DBS | |||||
Subscribers | Net Adds in 2Q 2006 | Total New Subscribers | Subscriber Acquisition Cost | Average Revenue Per Sub/Month | |
DIRECTV | 15,513,000 | 125,000 | 863,000 | $642 | $71.59 |
EchoStar | 12,460,000 | 195,000 | 824,000 | $683 | $62.71 |
Total DBS | 27,973,000 | 320,000 | 1,687,000 | ||
Sources: The Companies and Leichtman Research Group, Inc. | |||||
On-Demand TV services, says LRG, have made major strides in the past year, and these trends will continue. By the end of 2010 over 50 million households will have a DVR and about 42 million will have access to VOD from their cable provider. Despite the growth in users and usage of DVRs and VOD, these services still represent a very small portion of all TV viewing in the US.
To find the 3rd quarter Research Notes from Leichtman Research, please visit here.
Jack Loechner is the Editor of The Center for Media Research's daily Research Brief. You can reach him at jack@mediapost.com.