Market analysis firm The Carmel Group has published its study “Digital Video Recorders 2007: Time In A Magical Box,” in which it projects that some 46 percent of U.S. television households will be using digital video recorders by 2010. Furthermore, the group notes that U.S. cable television providers already account for the majority of DVR users, with cable companies accounting for 56 percent of the estimated 26 million DVR users in the United States. Satellite providers account for 38 percent, telcos for 1 percent, and independent providers like TiVo or 4 percent of the market.
Carmel also predicts a bright future for operators and DVR providers who can tap into individualized advertising technologies. The groups’ survey of nearly 2,200 U.S. DVR users and non-users indicates that DVR users (particularly women) are receptive to relevant, interactive advertising, and that DVR users in general express only “limited” privacy concerns, which makes them particularly good targets for advertising services which provide relevant adversing based on consumers’ demographic information. Even better for advertisers: more than half the DVR users surveyed said they would be receptive to interactively searching for ads related to products or services that interest them.
The Carmel Group projects that by 2008, the top four DVR manufacturers will be Scientific Atlanta, Motorola, Echostar’s Dish Network, and TiVo. Currently, the group says the top operators installing DVRs are Comcast, DirecTV, Echostar, and Time Warner (in that order).
