With the election in full swing, and lobbying playing a very key role in both campaigns, it’s interesting that lobbyists are also hating on white spaces. What are White Spaces? Essentially, they are the empty frequencies between the public airwaves currently used to send TV channels.

This article on Huffington Post says that DC lobbyists are trying to stop anyone from using those white spaces to deliver Internet connectivity to millions. New technology can now open up the unused portions of this spectrum to deliver high-speed Internet services. However, the National Association of Broadcasters and cell phone carriers “have been blitzing Washington with misinformation to prevent white spaces from being used to benefit millions of people” according to the article.

Too many Americans have been left on the wrong side of the digital divide — sidelined in a nation that increasingly demands high-speed Internet access to get things done, keep up in school and find out what’s happening in the world. The answer to this problem is right in front of us.

This week tens of thousands of people have signed a letter urging Congress and the FCC to skewer the industry spin and serve the public by opening white spaces to unlicensed, high speed Internet services.

Today, September 24th, has been designated “White Spaces Day” by members of the Wireless Innovation Alliance in order to urge Congress and the FCC to push back against these lobbyist.  The U.S. already has a very low broadband penetration rate, compared to other country’s. (This story says we are number 16 in the world.) So closing the digital divide seems like a compelling story.

If you’re a fan of Google, perhaps they can convince you. The company has started a “Free the Airwaves” campaign, to help spread the word, and where you can sign a petition.

According to research from Leichtman Research Group, 25% of U.S. households have at least 1 DVR. Over 30% have at least two DVRs. The research company polled 1,300 households in the U.S. (and apparently has been doing these surveys for the last seven years).

Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group said that the number of US households with DVRs has essentially doubled in the past two years and it “will likely double again over the next four years.”

“DVRs, along with on-demand, continue to change the way that many people watch TV. LRG forecasts that DVR and on-demand’s share of total TV viewing time in the U.S. will increase from about 6% today to 16% at the end of 2012.”

• 87% of DVR owners said they would recommend the DVR to a friend.
• On a scale of 1-10, 81% of owners rate their DVR 8-10 with 45% assigning it a perfect 10.
• 35% of DVR owners feel that they spend more time watching programs recorded on their DVR than regularly scheduled programs.
• 45% of DVR owners record five or fewer programs per week.
• 68% of digital cable subscribers say that they have used VOD–with 85% of this group having used VOD in the past month.
• 42% of VOD users are more likely to keep digital cable because of on-demand.

Bonus: For those still reading, you can download the PDF from the company here.  (PDF)

An article today from Computerworld quotes an analyst that says Apple should be worried about the new Google Android phone and Amazon’s MP3 music service.

Apple should certainly be worried,” said Aram Sinnreich, a media analyst at Radar Research. “It’s relied on the walled-garden approach with iTunes,” he added, talking about Apple’s locking the popular iPod to iTunes. “That’s OK, as long as no one knows their butt from their elbow.”

Calling the T-Mobile-Amazon partnership “a winning combination,” Sinnreich pointed out two reasons why he’s impressed with Amazon’s music store. “It’s gotten some real market share, and it’s really been an important force in moving the industry away from DRM,” he said.

Considering Apple iTune’s has a huge percentage of the online music market, and iPod’s have a large percentage of music players, why does it have to worry about Android and Amazon?

The short answer is DRM. Amazon’s music store sells songs without copy protection, whereas Apple mostly sells music using its DRM scheme. Apparently, DRM is not as popular as it was a few years ago. Consumers aren’t interested in being locked in to one particular music security system.

Another reason why Apple should be worried is price. Amazon prices singles at $0.89 compared to iTunes, which sells all singles for $0.99. Combine no DRM and lower prices, and Amazon may eat into iTunes’ sales.

However, Apple shouldn’t worry too much in the short-term. It’s going to take something monumental to dethrone Apple iTunes, iPods and iPhones. Amazon may gain some traction in the short-term, but a larger DRM-free movement among portable music players may be necessary.

I know that DVRs are great. But can they save relationships? That’s what a survey of DVR users claims, according to lots and lots of articles on the Internet. The survey also said that 80% of U.S. respondents said they can’t live without their DVRs.

The survey was released by NDS, a company that focuses on securing broadcast TV content and providing DVR technology to satellite TV broadcasters. (As a side note, NDS is a subsidiary owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.)

Apparently NDS paid a UK company called Consumer Analysis Group to conduct this survey. Although the results of this survey doesn’t come from an independent research and analysis firm, CAG seems to be a fairly typical firm that does consumer surveys. Apparently, NDS wanted to generate a press release about DVRs. Of course NDS benefits from the headlines generated about the survey results because they are a provider of DVR technology.

CAG Survey Picture

NDS said that Consumer Analysis Group polled of 1,012 people aged 18-70 years old who use DVRs in four countries. Each country had about 250 respondents each: UK (256), US (252), Italy (251) and Australia (253). The survey was conducted “using a mix of phone, street and online interviews.” Everything sounds good except for the part that says “street interviews”. Sounds kind of low-tech. (Here’s a picture from the CAG website, of someone seemingly using this low-tech survey approach. I wonder how many people they had to qualify in that actually used DVRs.)

Anyway, the results are interesting because they illuminate what lots of DVR users and analysts know already. It also points to what the future of TV may look like, as more and more people experience DVRs and TV on-demand.  As an analyst and DVR expert, I certainly enjoy these types of surveys, and I’ll have to read the entire report soon and report what I find.

In the mean time, some factoids I lifted from the press release:

Americans rank the DVR as the third most indispensable household item (62%), after the washing machine (97%) and the microwave oven (86%)

Americans rank the DVR as the second most essential household technology item they can’t live without (81%), beaten only by the mobile phone (92%)

3 out of 4 respondents with partners say that having a DVR makes for a happier home life

Bonus: Press Release here. Actual report PDF here.

Note to NDS: Indispensable is misspelled in the press release.

Hi, I’ve been busy integrating my multiple blogs into one flagship blog: Digital Media Bulletin. I’ve decided to shut down DVR Bulletin, which has focused on DVRs like Tivo. Instead, I am incorporating all DVR stories into this blog. So I’ll be covering the world of Tivo and DVRs here and will also begin covering mobile digital media. Thanks for being patient! Exciting things happening soon!

Cheers!