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.
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.





