A story from E-Commerce Times says that DVR use is growing due to cable and satellite TV providers that are “pushing much of the growth with their offers of discounted and subsidized boxes and services.”

Additionally, Leichtman Research Group predicts that by 2011, DVRs will be in 60 million homes, or 50% of U.S. households.

LRG President Bruce Leichtman said that the DVR market isn’t driven by consumer demand. “It’s often about supply. This is a great example about the supply side pushing a product.”

Another analyst said that DVRs have moved from being a premium offering to a standard one.

Cable and satellite providers are essentially subsidizing them into the market, as has the growth o HDTV. DVR use increases because consumer usually upgrade their service to HD, then decide to get a DVR because it’s usually part of the set-top box anyway. Some providers just charge an extra $5 per month to get a DVR with the set-top.

LRG found that even though DVR ownership is increasing, only 45% of DVR owners record five or fewer programs a week. LRG says that 95 percent of all TV viewing in the U.S. is still live TV.

“We should not assume,” [Leichtman] continued, “that just because DVRs are in one out of every five homes that they’re dramatically changing the landscape of television overall even in the homes that have a DVR.”

Technorati Tags: Tivo, Comcast, DirecTV, EchoStar, cable, DVR