May 23, 2005A dissenting POV on DVR's
Filed Under: Consumer Central , On-demand Viewing
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ESPN released a study at the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau's local sales management conference which essentially stated that DVR's might not exactly herald the end for the status quo stalwarts. In their "study", 57% of so-called "late adopter" households that participated in a DVR study returned them because "they did not want them"
90 of the 157 households returned their DVRs for reasons including:
- Complaints about the installation process
- The cost of DVRs
- The digital set-top devices clashed with or didn't fit into their home furnishings.
Furthermore, of the 67 who kept the magic boxes, there was an "indication that they continued to view TV commercials, even during fast-forward mode."
I'm not going to go into the usual rant about the self-evident self-serving aspects of the study, which just seem too convenient. What I will say however is that the operative and integral phrase is "late adopter." This study was out of context - DVR's and their value proposition are no where near the late adopter stage of the diffusion/adoption curve, so asking 34% of consumers what they think about a ship that has not yet docked at their port is just downright irrelevant and inaccurate.
If anything, the fact that 43% of late adopters elected to keep their DVR's should unequivocally make Madison Avenue more anxious and paranoid.
Thoughts?
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Comments
Joseph:
I've had a DVR for about six months ... and yes, it was difficult to set up given the cable company's typically lame service.
But it does transform the way you watch television, if you take the time to learn it. Maybe not overnight, but I find myself using the rewind button on live TV all the time.
My daughter, BTW, uses it constantly to time-shift ... recording her favorite programs and watching them when it's most convenient (when her younger sisters aren't around). So if you surveyed my wife you'd get results much like the ones you reported in your post, but my daughter would tell you a whole different story.
Posted by: John Wagner
Pitiful. I would suspect that "late adopters" would be the least likely segment to skip commercials with a DVR because they don't feel comfortable messing with technology. This is the wrong target audience to survey if one is to draw meaningful conclusions about general audience habits with regard to skipping commercials.
Posted by: Mark Delman
Once DVR's are built in to TV's it's all over for Madison Avenue, unless they embrace the future which is streaming on the net. they will because they have always found ways to survive. But some of the dinosaurs will have missed the boat. especially the big agencies that still don't get digital media.
Posted by: Sydney sussex
What may also be important to consider is how the technology like DVR and digital media is introduced to late adopters. My family has a Tivo, a home network and a 120gb drive of MP3's. My older parents hated the idea that I was adding one more gadget to the tv system (DVR). 3 months later they have learned how to record shows, pause, view recent pictures, listen to music, and even drop by to watch CSI (if they missed it the night before). They would have never purchased a DVR on their own, but after using it and becoming "dependent" on it, they will probably have their own DVR by christmas 05.
Posted by: Tim Weis
